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THE 



HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY; 



OR, 



DIVINE PROVIDENCE HISTORICALLY ILLUSTRATED 



THE EXTENSION AND ESTABLISHMENT 



instiantty. 



BY HOLLIS READ, A.M. 

AUTHOR OF THE CHRISTIAN BRAHMUN, AND LATE MISSIONARY OF 

THE AMERICAN BOARD. 



"That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, 

THAT IT IS MIGHTY." — Josh. iv. 24. 



J 



HARTFORD-.X: 
H. E. ROBINS AND 

1851. 






Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year J 849, 

By HOLLIfe &EAD, A.M. 
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Connecticut 



— -^•\/\/v\/\/>^\/vr^/N^- 



STEREOTYPED BY 

RICHARD H. HOBfiB, 

HARTFORD, CONN. 



PREFACE. 



" The history of the world is gradually losing itself in the 
history of the church." " The full history of the world is a 
history of redemption." " In no period of the history of 
redemption, not even when preparing the fullness of time for 
the Messiah's advent, has the providence of God been more 
marked than of late years, in its bearing on the extension of 
the Redeemer's kingdom." a The providence of God, in 
respect to this work," says another, " would form one of the 
most interesting chapters in the history of his government." 
u To the casual observer of Providence, to the ordinary reader 
of this world's history, the whole appears like a chaos of 
incidents, no thread, no system, no line of connection running 
through it. One course of events is seen here, and another 
there. Kingdoms rise on the stage one after another, and 
become great and powerful, and then pass away and are for- 
gotten. And the history of the church seems scarcely less a 
chaos than that of the world. Changes are continually going 
on within it and around it, and these apparently without 
much order." 

Yet all is not a chaos. The Christian student, with his 
eye devoutly fixed on the Hand of God, looks out upon the 
world, and back on the wide field of its history, and takes 



IV TREFACE. 

altogether a different view. What before seemed so chaotic 
and disorderly, now puts on the appearance of system and 
form. All is animated by one soul, and that soul is Provi- 
dence. 

The writer of the following pages believes his subject 
timely. Perhaps as never before, the minds of the most 
sagacious writers of our age are watching with profound and 
pious interest the progress of human events. The aim of the 
author has been to make the work historical, at least so 
abounding in narrative, anecdote, biography, and in the de- 
lineations of men and things in real life, as to commend it to 
the general reader ; and at the same time to reveal at every 
step the Hand of God overruling the events of history, to 
subserve his one great end : an attempt to contribute a mite to 
rescue history from the melancholy abuse under which it has 
lain almost to the present time. History, when rightly 
written, is but a record of providence ; and he who would read 
history rightly, must read it with his eye constantly fixed on 
the hand of God. Every change, every revolution in human 
affairs, is, in the mind of God, a movement to the consumma- 
tion of the great work of redemption. There is no doubt at 
the present time, a growing tendency so to write and so to 
understand history. And if the writer has contributed any 
thing to advance a consummation so devoutly to be wished, 
he will feel that he has not labored in vain. 

In the preparation of the following pages, the writer has felt 
his mind constantly burdened with the magnitude of the sub- 
ject. It has seemed too mighty to grapple with, and pain- 
fully conscious has he been of his inability to do it justice. 
Originating as it did, in the perplexity he felt, as a friend of 
Christian missions, in the inadequacy of any means now em- 
ployed, or likely soon to be employed, to secure the evangel- 
ization of the world, and in the many fluctuations of the mis- 



PREFACE. V 

sionary enterprise, he has been led to trace out the Divine 
agency, which has, in every age of Christianity, been em- 
ployed to carry forward the work. With his eye fixed on the 
hand of God, as engaged to consummate his plans of mercy 
through the cross, he has for the last seven years made his 
reading of history subservient to the work which he now ven- 
tures to offer to the public ; hoping he has struck out a course, 
and gathered a mass and variety of facts in illustration of his 
position, which, while it shall do something to magnify in the 
minds of his people the power and grace of God, to confirm 
their hopes, and give confidence in the sure and final triumph 
of the gospel, shall contribute something to aid abler pens to 
consummate what he has begun, 

Hartford, May, 1849. 



SOME OF THE AUTHORS CONSULTED. 



Hallam's Middle Ages. 

Robertson's Charles V., and his Ancient India. 

Guizot's History of Civilization. 

W. C. Taylor's Natural History of Society. 

Gibbon's Rome. 

Prescott's Ferdinand and Isabella. 

Bancroft's History of United States. 

D'Aubigne's History of the Reformation. 

Edwards' History of Redemption. 

Titler's Universal History. 

American Encyclopedia. 

Mosheim's Church History 

Gessler's Church History. 

Hume's History of England. 

Allison's Modern Europe. 

Mills' Mohammedanism. 

Foster's Mohammedanism Unveiled. 

Milman's Church History. 

Harris' Great Commission. 

Smith's and Choules' History of Missions. 

Moffatt's South Africa. 

Williams' Missionary Enterprises. 

Missionary Herald — Reports of Benevolent 

Societies. 
Dr. Duff's India, and India Missions. 
Dr. Grant's Nestorians, and the Lost Tribes., 
Prof. Tholock — Dr. Baird — Bishop Wilson. 
Lorimer's Protestant Church of France. 
Bingham's Sandwich Islands. 



CONTENTS. 



Pag#. 
PREFACE. ......... . 3 



CHAPTER I. 

Introduction. General illustrations of Providential Agency : Joseph— Moses- 
Esther — Daniel. History an exponent of Providence. Ezekiel's wheel. John's 
sealed Book. Pentecost. Persecution about Stephen— about Paul. Dispersion 
of the Jews. The Roman Empire. Introduction of the Gospel into Abyssinia- 
Iberia— Britain— Bulgaria. Our plan. Christianity progressive. 



CHAPTEE II. 

Art op Printing — Paper-making — Mariner's Compass. The Discovery of America, 
at precisely the right time: a new field for Christianity. First settlement. 
Romanists. None but Puritan seed takes deep root here. Character of the 
first settlers. Geographical position. Capabilities and resources of America. 
Language, Intelligence, Political supremacy. Coal. Steam. A cloud. - - • - 31 



CHAPTER III. 

The Reformation. — General remarks — state of Europe and the world. The 
crusades — their cause and effect. Revival of Greek literature in Europe. The 
Arabs. Daring spirit of inquiry. Bold spirit of adventure. Columbus. The 
Cabots. Charles V. Henry VIII. Francis I. Leo X. Rise of liberty. Feud- 
Distribution of political power. 53 



CHAPTER IV. 

The Reformation. Europe clamors for reform. Causes. Abuses. Boniface 
VIII. The Great Schism. Infallibility. Bad moral character of Popes— Alex- 
ander VI. Leo X. Elector of Saxony. Early Reformers. Waldenses— Nes- 
torians. The Reformation a necessary effect— a child of Providence. Martin 
Luther ; his origin, early education, history. Finds the Bible. His conversion. 
Luther the preacher— the Theological Professor— at Rome. "Pilate's stair- 
case. " Compelled to be a Reformer. His coadjutors. Opposition. Results. • 



Vlll CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER V. 

Page. 
Japheth in the tents of Shem : or, the Hand of God, as seen in the opening a way to 
India by the way of the Cape of Good Hope. The posterity of Japheth. The 
Portuguese empire in the East — its extent and extinction. Designs of Provi- 
dence in opening India to Europe— not silks and satins, but to illustrate the evil 
of Idolatry, and the inefficacy of false religions and philosophy to reform men. 
The power of true religion. 85 



CHAPTER VI. 

God in history. The Church safe. Expulsion of the Moors from Spain. Transfer 
of India to Protestant hands. Philip II. and Holland. Spanish invincible 
Armada. The bloody Mary of England. Dr. Cole and Elizabeth Edmonds. 
Cromwell and Hampden to sail for America. Return of the Waldenses and 
Henry Arnaud. Gunpowder plot. Cromwell's usurpation. Revolution of 1688. 
James II. and Louis XIV. Peter the Great. Rare constellation of great men. - 100 



CHAPTER VII. 

God in Modern Missions.— Their early history. Benevolent societies. The 
Moravians. — English Baptist's society. Birmah Missions. David Bogue and the 
London Missionary Society. Captain James Wilson and the South Sea Mission. 
The tradition of the unseen God.— Success. Destruction of Idols.— Gospel 
brought to Rurutu— Aitutaki— Rarotonga— Mangaia— Navigators' Islands. - - 122 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Modern Missions continued.— Henry Obookiah and the Sandwich Islands. Van- 
couver and the Council. Dr. Vanderkemp and South Africa. Africaner. 
Hand of God in the Origin of Benevolent Societies. Remarkable preservation 
of Missionaries. 136 



CHAPTER IX. 

Hand op God in facilities and resources by which to spread Christianity. The 
supremacy of England and America : prevalence of the English language, and 
European manners, habits and dress. Modern improvements ; facilities for 
locomotion. Isthmus of Suez and Darien. Commercial relations. Post- Office. - 156 



CHAPTER X. 

Hand op God in facilities and resources. General peace. Progress of know- 
ledge, civilization and freedom. The three great obstacles essentially removed, 
Paganism, the Papacy, and Mohammedanism. 176 



CONTENTS. Ut 



CHAPTER XI. 

Page. 
The field prepared. General Remarks ; — First, Papal countries, or Europe ; 
their condition now, and fifty years ago. France — the Revolution — Napoleon. 
1845, an epoch— present condition of Europe. Character of her monarchs. Cath- 
olic countries ;— Spain and Rome— Austria— France, an open field. France and 
Rome. Geneva. Benevolent and reforming societies. Religion in high places. 
Mind awake. Liberty. Condition of Romanism and Protestantism. • - • • 196 



CHAPTER XII. 

Continued. Second, Pagan Countries. Paganism in its dotage. Fifty years 
ago scarcely a tribe of Pagans accessible. 1793, another epoch. Pagan nations, 
how accessible. Facilities. War. The effective force in the field. Resources 
of Providence in laborers, education, and the press. Toleration. Success. 
Kirshnuggar. South India. 221 



CHAPTER XIII. 

The field prepared. Islands of the Pacific. Native agency. Liberality of native 
Churches. Outpouring of tl>e Spirit and answers to Prayer. The first Monday 
of January. Timing of things. England in India— her influence. Success, a 
cumulative force for progress. The world at the feet of the Church. 239 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Mohammedan countries and Mohammedanism. The design, origin, character 
success, extent of Islamism. Mohammed a Reformer — not an Impostor. 
Whence the power and permanency of Mohammedanism 1 Promise to Ishmael 
—hope for him. The power of Islam on the wane. Turks the watch-dogs of 
Providence, to hold in check the Beast and the Dragon. Turkish reforms — 
Toleration— Innovations— A pleasing reflection. S 



CHAPTER XV. 

Hand of God in the Turkish Empire. The Turkish Government and Chris- 
tianity. Mr. D wight's communication. Change of the last fifty years. Destruc- 
tion of the Janizaries. Greek Revolution. Reform. Death of Mahmoud. The 
Charter of Gul Khaneh. Religious Liberty. Persecution arrested. Steam 
Navigation in Turkey. Providential incidents. Protestant Governments and 
Turkey. Their present Embassadors. Foreign Protestant Residents. Late ex- 
emption from the plague. 274 



X CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XYI. 

Page. 

Africa , the land of paradoxes— Hope for Africa. Elements of renovation— Anglo- 
Saxon iniluence — Colonizing— The Slave Trade and Slavery — Commerce. 
A moral machinery— education, the Press, a preached Gospel. Free Govern- 
ment. African Education and Civilization Society. The Arabic Press. African 
languages. 290 



CHAPTER XVII. 

The Armenians— their history, number, location. Dispersion and preservation of 
the Armenians. The American Mission ; Asaad Shidiak ; exile of Hohannes. 
The great Revival. The Persecution, and what God has brought out of it. - -313 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

The Jews. Providential features of their present condition, indicating their pre- 
paredness to receive the Gospel. 332 



CHAPTER XIX. 

The Nestorians— their country, number, history. The Ten lost Tribes. Early 
conversion to Christianity. Their missionary character. The American Mis- 
sion among them. Dr. Grant and the Koordish mountains. The massacre. 
The great Revival— extends into the mountains. The untamed mountaineer. 
A bright day dawning. 351 



CHAPTER XX. 

Europe in 1848. The Mission of Puritanism— in Europe. The failure of the ref- 
ormation. Divorce of Church and State. The moral element in Government. 
Progress of liberty in Europe ; religious Liberty. Causes of the late European 
movement. The downfall of Louis Philippe. What the end shall be. - - - -365 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Remarkable providences— small beginnings and great results. Abraham. 
Joseph. Moses. David. Ruth. Ptolemy's map. Printing. The Mayflower. 
Bunyan. John Newton. The old marine. The poor Choctaw boy. The 
linen seller. Russian Bible Society. The little girl's tears, and Bible Societies. 
Conclusion. 283 

A list of some of the Authors consulted. 403 



HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 



CHAPTER I. 

Introduction. General illustrations of Providential Agency : Joseph— Moses— Esther- 
Daniel. History an exponent of Providence. Ezekiel's wheel. John's sealed Book. 
Pentecost. Persecution about Stephen— about Paul. Dispersion of the Jews. The 
Roman Empire. Introduction of the Gospel into Abyssinia— Iberia— Britain— Bul- 
garia. Our plan. Christianity progressive. 

" Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleih" — James, ii. 5. 

A young shepherd boy, as he tends his father's flocks 
on the hills of Palestine, dreams a dream. No strange 
event this, and, accustomed as he was to gaze on the starry 
concave, not strange that he should dream of the sun, 
moon and stars — or that it should have been interpreted 
of his future greatness, or that his brethren should on this 
account hate him — or that Joseph should be sold a slave 
into Egypt. Here seemed an end of the whole matter. 
The exiled youth would soon wear out in bondage, un- 
known and unwept; a disconsolate father go down to 
the grave mourning, and the posterity of Jacob cultivate 
their fields, and watch their flocks, forgetful that this out- 
rage to humanity ever disgraced the annals of their family 
history. But not so the mind of God. Joseph is en- 
slaved — accused of crime — thrown into prison. Yet in 
that dark cell is nourished the germ of hope to the church 
of the living God. Israel should grow up on the banks 
of the Nile, and spread his boughs to the river, and his 
branches to the sea. The eye of God was here steadily 
fixed on the advancement of his church. 

Again, something is seen floating amidst the flags of 
the river of Egypt. A. servant woman is ordered to bring 
it. It is an ark of rushes. Thousands of Hebrew chil- 



12 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

dren had perished uncared for ; but now, as by accident, 
one is found and introduced into the palace of the king 
and to the court. He is educated in all the learning of 
the Egyptians, and schooled in the discipline needful to 
make him a legislator and a military leader. With what 
care did God watch that little rush bark, and with what 
consummate skill order every event, till he had reared up 
Moses, and fitted him to act a more prominent part in the 
advancement of his cause than any mortal had acted 
before. 

Or, an obscure female is born in Persia. At an early 
age she is left an orphan. An uncle adopts her, and hopes 
she may yet solace his declining years. She is beautiful, 
lovely, modest — yet nothing points her out to any envia- 
ble station above the thousands of the daughters of Persia. 
To all human forethought she would live and die unknown 
as she was born. But the church of God is scattered 
throughout the hundred and twenty and seven prov- 
inces of Persia. Esther is a daughter of the captivity ; 
and God would raise up some guardian spirit to save his 
people from an impending danger, and honor them in 
the sight of the heathen. The palace of Shushan, and 
the gorgeous court of the Shah, shall stand in awe of 
Esther's God. By a singular train of circumstances the 
obscure orphan is brought to the notice of the king — finds 
favor, and is called to share with him the honors of his 
throne. And what deliverances she wrought for her peo- 
ple — how she brought them out from their long obscurity, 
and gave them notoriety and enlargement, and prepared 
the way for their restoration to their native land and to 
the Holy Hill of Zion, is known to all who have traced 
the hand of Providence in this portion of Sacred History. 

Again, a youth of nineteen years is carried captive to 
Babylon. But there was nothing singular in this. Thou- 
sands of every age and rank had been forced away from 
their native hills and valleys of Palestine, the victims of 
unsuccessful war. But the time had come when God 
would proclaim his name and his rightful claims to sover- 
eignty from the high battlements of the greatest of earthly 
potentates. Again he would magnify his church in the 
sight of all nations. Hence Daniel's captivity — hence 



PROVIDENCE AND HISTORY. 13 

that youthful saint prayed and exemplified an enlightened, 
unbending piety, till the king and his court, the nobles 
and the people, publicly acknowledged the God of Daniel, 
and " blessed the Most High, and praised and honored 
him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting 
dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to genera- 
tion." 

" Providence is the light of history and the soul of the 
world." " God is in history, and all history has a unity 
because God is in it." " The work of Redemption is the 
sum of all God's providences." 

In the following pages, an attempt is made to present, 
within prescribed limits, an historical illustration of the 
Hand of God as displayed in the extension and establish- 
ment of Christianity. And the author will compass his 
end in proportion as he may contribute any thing to a 
right apprehension of history — of the divine purposes in 
the vicissitudes and revolutions of human affairs, discern- 
ing in the records of all true history the one great end, 

" For which all nature stands, 
And stars their courses move." 

All veritable history is but an exponent of Providence ; 
and it cannot but interest the mind of intelligent piety, 
to trace the hand of God in all the changes and revolu- 
tions of our world's history. All are made beautifully to 
subserve the interests of the church ; atl tend to the fur- 
therance of the one great purpose of the Divine mind ; 
the glory of God in the redemption of man. He that 
would rightly study history must keep his eye constantly 
fixed on the great scheme of human salvation. History, 
however, has been written with no such intent. " The 
first thing that it should have shown is the last thing that 
it has shown. The relation of all events to God's grand 
design is by most historians quite overlooked." All past 
history is but the unravelling of God's eternal plan re- 
specting our race. The whole course of human events 
is made finally to subserve this one great purpose. The 
philosophy of history can be learned only in the labora- 
tory of heaven — with the eye fixed on the Hand that 

2 



14 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

moves the world, and the spirit in harmony with the great 
Spirit that animates the universe. 

It is only when we see God — Christ — redemption, in 
history, that we read it in the light of truth. "This is 
the golden thread that passes through its entire web, and 
gives it its strength, its lustre and consistency. " 

With beautiful propriety the Prophet Ezekiel prefaces 
his predictions with a striking delineation of Divine Provi- 
dence. Or rather God prepares the prophet's mind to 
become the vehicle of the most extraordinary series of 
predictions concerning his people, by a vision emblemat- 
ical of Providence. It came under the similitude of a 
" wheel," or a sphere made of a " wheel in the middle of 
a wheel." 

A whirlwind and a cloud appear in the north, illumined 
with a brightness as of fire. Out of the midst of the cloud 
appears the likeness of four living creatures ; each has four 
faces ; four wings, and hands under their wings ; straight 
feet like the ox ; and the four faces are severally like the 
face of a man, of a lion, of an ox and an eagle, denoting 
wisdom, strength, swiftness and obedience. Their wings 
are raised and joined one to another, and when they move 
they move " straight forward," as directed by the Spirit, 
and they turn not as they go. These may be taken to 
represent the ministers of Providence — angels, with ready 
wing to obey the behests of Heaven — intent on their er- 
rands of mercy or of wrath — turning neither to the right 
hand or the left ^subject to no mistakes, hindered by no 
obstructions — and all their movements directed by one 
great Mind. " Whither the Spirit w r as to go, they went ; 
they run and return as the appearance of a flash of 
lightning." 

By the side of these was a wheel or sphere, composed 
of a "wheel within a wheel." This may be regarded as 
an emblem of Divine Providence. The wheel had four 
faces — looked every way, moved every way ; was con- 
nected with the living creatures, and moved in perfect 
harmony with them; was full of eyes — never moved 
blindly or by chance ; its operations, though endlessly 
diversified in detail, were harmonious in action and one 
in their end, for all were guided by one great, controlling 



PROVIDENCE INCOMPREHENSIBLE. 15 

Agent. The wheels had a regular, uniformly onward 
movement — no turning aside or turning back ; and so 
enormous were they in circumference that their " height 
was dreadful." 

And such is God's Providence — a scheme for carrying 
out purposes high as heaven, and lasting as eternity — vast, 
profound in the conception, sublime in result, and, like 
God himself, omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent. 
God is the soul of Providence. 

The general appearance of this singular mechanism 
was like unto the color of a beryl — azure — ocean-like. 
Providence like the ocean I — an apt and beautiful allusion. 
The ocean, broken only here and there by a few large 
patches of land sitting, as it were, on its heaving 
bosom, stretches from pole to pole, and from equator 
to equator; is all-pervading, never at rest, irresistible. 
It ebbs and flows ; has its calms and tempests, its depres- 
sions and elevations. Whether lashed into fury by the 
storm, or sleeping tranquilly on its coral bed, it is accom- 
plishing its destined end. It washes every land ; its va- 
pors suffuse the entire atmosphere; its waters, filtered 
through the earth, are brought to our door, and distribu- 
ted through every hill and valley. 

Common and useful as the ocean is, we are but par- 
tially acquainted with its utility, and so boundless is it 
that human vision can take in but a mere speck of its 
whole surface. We stand on its shore, or sit on some 
little floating speck on its bosom, and, 'save a little lake 
or pond that heaves in restless throes about us, the ocean 
itself lies beyond the field of our vision, shut out by the 
azure curtain of the encircling sky. 

And such is Providence — a deep, unfathomable deep — 
none but the omniscient eye can fathom it — none but in- 
finite Wisdom can scan its secret recesses ; so boundless, 
everywhere active, all-influential, that none but the infi- 
nite Mind can survey and comprehend its wonder-work- 
ing operations ; so mighty, all-controlling, irresistible, that 
nothing short of omnipotence can guide it. Like the sea, 
Providence has its flows and ebbs, its calms and tempests, 
its depressions and elevations. At one time we ride on 
the swelling bosom of prosperity. The tide of life runs 



16 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

high and strong. The sunbeams of health and joy glisten 
in our tranquil waters, and we scarcely fear a disturbing 
change. Again the tide sets back upon us. Disappoint- 
ment, poverty, sickness, bodily or mental affliction, throw 
life aiul all its enjoyments in the ebb. We are tossed on 
the crested billow, or lie struggling beneath the over- 
whelming wave. Like the sea, Providence is not only 
the minister of the Divine mercy, but of the Divine dis- 
pleasure, executing judgments on the froward and disobe- 
dient : a minister of discipline, too, casting into the fur- 
nace of affliction, that it may bring out the soul seven 
times purified. We can see but little of its boundless 
surface, or sound but little of its unfathomable depths. 

" And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the 
throne a book written within and on the back side, sealed 
with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming 
with a loud voice, Who is able to. open the book and to 
loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven, nor in 
earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book. 
And I wept. And one of the elders said unto me, Weep 
not : behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of 
David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the 
seven seals thereof/' This book was an ancient roll, 
composed of seven distinct parts — (the number seven de- 
noting universality ;) so rolled as to leave an end of each 
on the outside, which was sealed with a separate seal. 
The book was written within — reserved in the keeping 
of Him that sitteth on the throne — held in the right hand 
of Omnipotence — the understanding and unfolding of its 
secrets was committed only to the Son, the Lion of the 
tribe of Judah. None could " look thereon/' or take it 
from the right hand of Him that sitteth on the throne, 
but the Lamb that stood in the " midst of the throne." 

This is another apt and beautiful emblem of Divine 
Providence. As mediatorial King, the Lord Jesus Christ 
undertakes the unrolling of this mysterious scroll — the 
unfolding of the eternal purposes of Jehovah — the con- 
trolling of all events, and the ordering and overruling of 
all the vicissitudes and revolutions in human affairs, to 
the carrying out of the Divine purposes. It was a book 
of seven chapters, some of which are divided into sections 



HISTORY AND THE CHURCH. 17 

as marked by the seven trumpets, the seven thunders and 
the seven vials of the seven last plagues. 

The Lamb takes the book — becomes the executor of 
the Divine will in his purposes of mercy to man : " Lo ! 
I come in the volume of the book as it is written of me, 
I delight to do thy will, O my God." " And when he 
had taken the book/' and thereby engaged to execute the 
magnificent scheme of the Divine Mind, the four living 
creatures and the four and twenty elders fell down before 
the Lamb, having harps, and golden vials full of odors, 
which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new 
song, saying, thou art worthy to take the book, and to 
open the seals thereof." 

Then follows, in awful succession, scene after scene in 
the sublime drama, till John had witnessed, in shadowy 
outline, as in a moving panorama before him, the great 
events, political and ecclesiastical, which should transpire 
in coming time — reaching forward to the end of the 
present dispensation or the full establishment of Messiah's 
kingdom. Holding in his hand the book of God's pur- 
poses, the Lamb rides forth, King and Conqueror, in the 
chariot of God's providences. In a word, the solution of 
the dark sayings of this book — the evolving of the Di- 
vine purposes concerning the scheme of grace, is to be 
sought in the progress and final triumph of ImmanueVs 
kingdom. 

Whoever will read the history of the world and of the 
church of God, with his eye fixed on the providential 
agency which everywhere overrules the events of the one 
to the furtherance and well-being of the other, will see 
all history illuminated by a light, and animated by a spirit, 
of which the mere chronicler of historical events knows 
nothing. He will feel that history has a sacred philoso- 
phy — that he is standing in the council chamber of eter- 
nity, reading the annals of infinite Wisdom and Mercy, as 
blended and developed in the great work of human re- 
demption. He will see in all history such a shaping of 
every event as finally to further the cause of truth. 
Events apparently contradictory often stand in the rela- 
tion of cause and effect. A Pharaoh and a Nebuchad- 
nezzar, an Alexander and a Nero, a Domitian and a Bor- 



18 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

gia. Henry the VIII. and Napoleon, men world-renowned, 
yet oftentimes prodigies of wickedness, are in every age 
made the instruments and the agents to work out the 
scheme oi His operations who maketh the wrath of man 
to praise him. " Howbeit they mean not so." 

The Lord's portion is his people ; Jacob is the lot of 
his inheritance. He found him in a desert land and in a 
waste, howling wilder! •s; he led him about, he in- 
structed him, he kept hiui as the apple of his eye. As 
an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, 
spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them 
on her wings ; so the Lord alone did lead him. He has 
engraven him on the palms of his hands. By some anom- 
aly of nature a mother may forget her sucking child, but 
God will not forget his inheritance in Jacob. The earth 
changes ; the sea changes ; change is the order of all ter- 
restrial things. They appear and pass away, and we 
scarcely know they have been. But not so with the 
church of God. As He lives so she shall live. 

The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud 
to lead them, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them 
light ; a beautiful emblem of a superintending Providence 
over his church. And "he has never taken away the 
pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night." By 
his sleepless energy he has prepared the way before them, 
and led them by his own right hand. For their sakes he 
has made and unmade kings — formed and dissolved em- 
pires — cast down and discomfited enemies, and raised up 
friends. 

It shall be our delightful task to trace the footsteps of 
Providence in the extension and establishment of the 
church. While much has been done for the spread of 
the true religion by missionary effort, much more has been 
done through the direct agency of Providence. Illustra- 
tions crowd upon us unsought : a few of which, as iso- 
lated cases, shall be allowed to fill up our first chapter. 

1. Peter and the Pentecost. I do not here refer di- 
rectly to the extraordinary outpouring of the spirit on 
that day, or to the great number of converts, but to the re- 
markable concurrence of circumstances, which made that 
a radiating point of the newly risen Sun of Righteousness 



PAUL IN ROME. 19 

to most of the nations of the earth. Had not the Parthi- 
ans and the Medes, the Arabians and the dwellers in 
Mesopotamia — devout men out of every nation under 
heaven, been there, the influence of that occasion had 
been confined within a narrow province. But as the event 
was, the gospel flew as on the wings of the wind, through 
all the countries represented in Peter's assembly on that 
memorable day. And as the apostles afterwards trav- 
ersed those same regions, they found the glad tidings of 
Pentecost had gone before them as pioneers to their suc- 
cess, and harbingers of peace to welcome the more per- 
fect establishment of Messiah's kingdom. All this was 
purely providential — a conjunction of circumstances to 
bring about results which should be felt over the whole 
known world. 

2. The persecution which arose about Stephen. Its im- 
mediate and obvious result was a cruel persecution against 
the whole church, scattering abroad the disciples through 
all the neighboring nations. The ultimate and more glo- 
rious result — the providential aspect and design, was that 
they should, wherever dispersed, go preaching the gospel. 
The converts of Pentecost now need to be reinforced, 
strengthened and encouraged; and they who had sat 
longer at the feet of the apostles, and learned the way of 
life more perfectly, were sent to strengthen the things 
that were ready to perish. Where was the smoking flax 
they fanned it to a flame ; where the flickering lamp, they 
replenished it from the horn of salvation. And the gos- 
pel, too, was by this means introduced and established in 
other regions. They that had long sit in the land of 
the shadow of death, light shined on them. 

3. Paul's being carried prisoner to Rome. Rome was 
the imperial city, the metropolis of the world. Judea, 
the cradle of Christianity, was, on the other hand, but an 
insignificant province ; the Jews, a hated people, and the 
founder of Christianity, was contemned as a crucified 
malefactor. But Jesus of Nazareth shall be known and 
honored at Rome. Her seven hills shall be as the seven 
golden candlesticks to send the light of truth abroad. 
But with man this was impossible. There were Chris- 
tians in Rome ; yet Rome was a proud, pagan city. The 



20 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

church and her envoys were equally in bad repute. Her 
excellencies were unknown, and her beauties, as dimly 
seen through the fogs of ignorance and prejudice, were 
unappreciated. But the religion of Calvary shall be 
honored at Rome — there shall be a church in the " house- 
hold of Caesar." That great pagan empire shall yield to 
the cross, and her proud capital shall be the radiating 
point of light. 

It is fit, then, that the prince of the apostles should go 
there — that his puissant arm should wield the sword of 
the Spirit amidst those giant powers of darkness — that 
his voice should be heard in the forum, and his eloquence 
plead in the palace of Caesar. But how can this be ? 
God had a way — Paul must be arrested in the midst of 
his successful mission in Asia Minor. This seemed a 
sore evil — no one could supply his place there. But the 
great Husbandman had need of him in another part of 
his vineyard. He must be arrested— -brought before a 
Roman tribunal — be accused — allowed an appeal to Cae- 
sar — and to Ccesar he must go. 

But he goes, though in chains, the embassador of 
heaven, the messenger of Christianity, to the capital of the 
empire, and to the palace of the monarch. He goes at 
the expense of a pagan government, in a government 
ship, under governmental protection, and for the express 
purpose of making a defence which shall lay a necessity 
on him to preach Christ and him crucified before the im- 
perial court. 

All this is providential. On this highest summit of 
earthly power, Paul kindled a fire whose light soon shone 
to the remotest bounds of the Roman empire. 

4. The dispersion of the Jews was another providential 
interposition which contributed immensely to the wide 
and rapid spread of the gospel. Jerusalem had been di- 
vinely appointed the radiating point of Christianity. The 
gospel must first be preached at Jerusalem : then to the 
mongrel tribes of Samaria ; and thence, chiefly through 
the instrumentality of Jews, to the remotest parts of 
the earth. But the Jews were a people proverbially 
averse to mingling with other nations ; and how shall they 
become the messengers of salvation to a perishing world ? 



THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 21 

A signal providence here interposed : Jerusalem is be- 
sieged by a Roman army ; her mighty ramparts are 
broken down ; her palaces demolished ; her gorgeous 
temple laid in ruins. The nation is disbanded, and the 
Jewish church is no more. The fold broken up, the 
sheep are scattered. They spread themselves over the 
plains of Asia, even to the confines of the Chinese sea. 
They wander over the hills, and settle down in the val- 
leys of Europe ; nor does the broad Atlantic arrest their 
progress to the new world. Wherever dispersed, they 
bear testimony to the truth of Christianity. Whether in 
Kamskatka or on the torrid sands of Africa, on the Co- 
lumbia or the Ganges, the Jew is everywhere a Jew — 
and the peculiarities which make him such, make him 
everywhere a preacher of righteousness. The bare fact 
of his dispersion was a living and palpable illustration of 
God's truth. If not a direct preacher of righteousness, 
he was at least verifying the predictions of a long line of 
prophets, and confirming the testimony of all former ages. 
Nothing so abundantly favored the propagation of the 
gospel as the dispersion of the Jews : " Through their fall 
salvation is come to the Gentiles." Their rejection was 
the occasion and the means of a wider and a richer diffu- 
sion of the gospel. 

Indeed, at every step of the progress of Christianity 
we meet a wonder-working Providence opening and pre- 
paring the way for the kingdom of God among the na- 
tions of the earth. 

5. The extent and character of the Roman Empire, at 
this time, affords another notable instance. In the con- 
struction of that vast empire, God had, for near forty 
centuries, been preparing a stupendous machinery for the 
triumph of the truth over the superstition and ignorance, 
the learning and philosophy of the whole earth. It was 
the grand concentration of all that was good, and much 
that was bad, in the great monarchies which had gone 
before it. It was, indeed, a magnificent structure ; in ex- 
tent, covering nearly the whole known world, and in po- 
litical, intellectual, and moral height, overtopping all that 
had gone before it. The mighty monarchies which had 
gone before, were schools and vast workshops in which 



2'2 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

to prepare materials out of which to build Rome. In polit- 
ical wisdom and the science of government, in the arts and 
sciences, in civilization and refinement, Rome drew much 
from the ever instructive past. In point of religion, too, 
she had gained much. Having adopted the mythologies 
of her predecessors, the lapse of time had shown her their 
indfficacy and nothingness ; and, consequently, long be- 
fore the coming of Christ, the state of religion was little 
more than the ridicule of the philosopher, the policy of 
the magistrate, and the mere habit of superstition with 
the populace ; and, of consequence, in a state as favora- 
ble as may well be conceived for the introduction and 
rapid spread of a new religion. 

Such, in a word, was the character, the extent, and 
facilities of communication possessed by the Roman Em- 
pire, as admirably to fit her to act the conspicuous part 
in the spread of the gospel for which Providence had 
prepared her. 

A nod from the Roman throne made the world tremble. 
What started with a Roman influence reached the bound- 
aries of that vast empire. # When, therefore, Paul 
brought the religion of Jesus into the forum and the pal- 
ace, into the schools of philosophy, and the chief places 
of learning, a blow was struck which vibrated through 
every nerve of that vast body politic. And we need not 
be surprised at the triumphant declaration of the great 
apostle to the Gentiles, that, in less than half a century 
after the resurrection, " verily their sound had gone into 
all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world." 

The universality and consolidation of the Roman Em- 
pire remarkably favored such a result. Narrow nation- 
alities had fallen. Rome was the world. When Chris- 
tianity became the national religion, it, in a sense, became 
the religion of the world. The observant reader of Gib- 

* Of the peculiar facilities afforded by the Roman Empire for the universal spread of 
the gospel, take, for an example, her national roads and posts. From Rome to Scotland 
on the west, and to Jerusalem on the east, a distance of four thousand Roman miles — 
and from the imperial capital through the heart of every province, there extended a 
national road by which even the remotest provinces were accessible. This furnished 
facilities before unknown for the communication of knowledge and the propagation of 
Christianity. To open and improve the facilities for intercommunication, is among the 
first measures for effecting, or for advancing the civilization of any country. Modern 
Europe received its first lessons here from the Saracens of the twelfth and following 
centuries. 



MADE TO SUBSERVE THE CHURCH. 23 

bon cannot have overlooked the singular fact, that not 
only every new conquest added new dominion to Chris- 
tianity, but every defeat. The conquerors of Rome al- 
most invariably embraced the religion of the conquered. 
The strong arm of Jehovah made the Roman monarchy 
a mighty engine in the advancement of his truth. 

Under its benign auspices the Saviour was born. Au- 
gustus Caesar, the first Roman Emperor, began his reign 
about twenty-four years before this event. The Roman 
Empire had now just reached its culminating point. 
Augustus was the emperor of the heathen world. Never 
before had Satan's kingdom attained to so gigantic a 
height in point of power, wealth, and learning. This 
was consummated but a year before the birth of Christ. 
Augustus having subdued his last enemy, the world was 
hushed into universal peace — a befitting time for the ad- 
vent of the Prince of Peace. The church was, at that 
time, brought exceedingly low — her enemies raised to the 
greatest height of glory and power — the four winds of 
heaven were stayed, and God's anointed came. 

Thus did God magnify the power of his church, and 
display the omnipotency of his truth, by bringing them 
in near connection with the prince of the power of the 
air when he was at the point of his greatest glory, and 
then overruling the honor and might of the enemy, to the 
furtherance of his own eternal scheme of mercy. The 
great worldly aggrandizement of the Roman Empire was, 
in a remarkable degree, made to subserve the rising cause 
of Christianity. 

6. Unroll the map of history where you please, and 
you will meet, portrayed before you, the wonder-working 
Hand stretched out to protect his people, and to overrule 
men and events to the praise of his name, and the fur- 
therance of his gracious plans. 

The emperor, Antoninus, a persecutor of the Christian 
church, is warring with a barbarous people in Germany. 
His army is perishing with heat and thirst, and the enemy 
near. Being informed of a Christian legion in his army, 
who were said to obtain what they desired by their 
prayers, the emperor commanded them to call on their 
God for assistance. The entire legion fell on their knees 



24 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

and besought the Lord for rain. Suddenly the sky was 
overcast — a terrific storm of thunder and lightning burst 
on their enemies. They were panic-struck and com- 
pletely routed, while a copious shower afforded the impe- 
rial troops ample refreshment. The heart of the empe- 
ror is turned to favor the new sect. The Christian's God 
and the gospel is known and honored in the high places 
of imperial Rome. 

A similar purpose was achieved at a later period by 
the conversion of the emperor Philip. 

There is light in Rome, while yet the British Isle is 
covered with pagan darkness. Caractacus, with his fam- 
ily and his father Brennus, is carried prisoner of war to 
Rome. They embrace the Christian faith, and, after 
seven years, return to their native island, accompanied 
by three Christian preachers, one a Jew, who introduced 
the religion of Calvary, in the first century. The mis- 
sion, sent at a later period by Gregory the great, was a 
child of the same Providence. Walking, one day, in the 
market-place, he saw some fine youths, of florid complex- 
ion, bound with cords and exposed to sale as slaves. 
Deeply interested in their behalf, he inquired whence 
they came. Being informed they were natives of Britain, 
and pagans, he gave his spirit no rest till a mission had 
been dispatched to that idolatrous island. 

When, in the reign of the emperor Philip, the church 
had rest, and her ministers had quiet and comfort at home, 
and the apostolic and missionary spirit was declining, 
yet a wide and effectual door was open to the heathen — ■ 
Providence had a resource little thought of: Barbarian 
invaders carry away among their captives several Christian 
bishops, who, contrary to their expectations, are forced to 
become missionaries and preachers in foreign lands, and 
are the instruments of the conversion of many, who had 
otherwise died in the region and shadow of death. 

In a little town on the gulf of Nicomedia lived an ob- 
scure inn-keeper. Constantius, a Roman embassador, 
returning from the court of Persia, lodges in the inn — be- 
comes enamored of Helena, the inn-keeper's daughter — ■ 
marries her, and the son of their union they call Constan 
tine. Constantius becomes a distinguished Roman gen- 



CONSTANTINE. 25 

era], and is at length honored with the purple — divorces 
Helena, the wife of obscure parentage, and leaves her 
son to humiliation and disgrace. But he was a chosen 
vessel. He signalized his valor in war, and in peace 
showed himself worthy to be the son of a Roman Empe- 
ror. His father dies, and the army constrain him to ac- 
cept the imperial crown. On his way to Rome he en- 
counters his formidable rivals. Rallying for battle, he 
sees (he says,) in the air a cross, on which was written, 
by this coNauER. He becomes a Christian — makes a 
cross the standard of his army, under which he fought 
and conquered. He becomes the patron of the Christian 
church, and the royal defender of the faith. 

By exalting to the imperial dignity a decidedly Chris- 
tian prince, God makes bare his arm more conspicuously 
in the eyes of the nations. 

The church had been withering under ten cruel perse- 
cutions. Long, dark, and fearful had been her night. 
The morning dawned ; she hailed Constantine as her de- 
liverer. " The four winds of the earth" were restrained 
that they should " not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, 
nor on any green tree." The church had rest. Nothing 
that imperial power and princely munificence could do 
was wanting, to abolish idolatry, to erect churches, and 
to extend the dominions of Christianity. The Goths and 
Germans, the Iberians and Armenians, the refined Per- 
sian and the rude Abyssinian, the dwellers in India and 
Ethiopia, received, under the gracious reign of Constan- 
tine, the embassadors of peace and pardon, and were gath- 
ered into the fold of the good Shepherd. 

The danger now lay on the side of prosperity — and on 
this rock the newly launched vessel struck. Neverthe- 
less, her extension and unparalleled prosperity was an act 
of a wise and gracious Providence in the elevation of this 
Christian prince. 

Nothing can be more intensely interesting than the 
phasis of Providence at this particular epoch. While 
the gigantic fabric of pagan Rome is falling to decay — 
while the huge image of her greatness and glory is crum- 
bling to ruins, another kingdom is rising in all the beauty 
and^vigor of youth, deriving strength from every opposi- 

e 



26 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

tion, towering above every human difficulty, bidding defi- 
ance to the gorgeous array of Roman power and Roman 
paganism, and soon waiving the triumphant banner of the 
cross over the ruins of imperial Rome. A mighty hand 
was at work, as surely and irresistibly undermining, and 
removing out of the way, the huge colossus of Rome, as he 
was, with the same onward and resistless step, rearing up 
that kingdom which should never end. 

There seemed inwrought, in the mind of the Roman 
army and the Roman w T orld, the impression that Constan- 
tine was a signal instrument, in the hands of God, to es- 
tablish the empire of Christianity throughout the earth — 
that "his commission was no less special than that of 
Moses, Joshua, or Gideon." 

A Tyrian merchant, in the 4th century, visits Abys- 
sinia with two lads. Meropius is attacked by the natives, 
and murdered. The boys, Frumentius and Edesius, are 
spared, presented to the king, and taken under his pat- 
ronage. In due time Frumentius is made prime minis- 
ter, and uses the advantages of his station to introduce 
Christianity. A church is established in that pagan land, 
of which he is afterwards constituted Bishop. And, what 
is a matter of no little interest, Christianity has lived in 
that country till the present day, a bulwark against the 
assaults of the Moslems, or the stratagems and cruelties 
of popery. How great a matter a little fire kindleth ! 

The Iberians, a pagan people bordering on the Black 
sea, take captive in war a Christian female of great piety. 
They soon learn to respect, then to revere her holy de- 
portment — and the more, on account of some remarkable 
answers to her prayers. Hence she was brought to the 
notice of the king, which led, eventually, to the conver- 
sion of the king and queen, and to the introduction by them 
of Christian teachers to instruct their people. Thus an- 
other portion of the great desert was inclosed in the gar- 
den of the Lord, through the gracious interposition of an 
Almighty Providence. 

Again, the sister of the king of the Bulgarians, a Scla- 
vonic people, is, in the ninth century, carried captive to 
Constantinople — hears and embraces the truth of the gos- 
pel ; returning home, spares no pains to turn her brother, 



TOPICS TO BE DISCUSSED. 27 

the king, from the vanity of his idols ; but apparently to 
no effect, till a pestilence invades his dominions, when he is 
persuaded to pray to the God of the Christians. The plague 
is removed — the king embraces Christianity, and sends to 
Constantinople for missionaries to teach his people : — and 
another nation is added to the territory of Christianity. 

Thus did the " vine brought out of Egypt/' which had 
taken deep root on the hills of Judah, spread its branches 
eastward and westward, till its songs of praise were sung 
on the Ganges and the Chinese sea, and echoed back from 
the mountain-tops of the farthest known west. In all 
its leading features, in all its grand aggressive movements 
and rich acquisitions, we trace the mighty, overruling 
hand of Providence. Christian missions did but follow, 
at a respectful distance, this magnificent agency of 
Heaven. Missions overcame their thousands, providen- 
tial interpositions their tens of thousands. He that sat 
upon the white horse, who is called Faithful and True, 
whose name is the word of God, rose forth victoriously 
to the conquest of the world. The Christian church is 
the favorite child of an ever- watchful Providence. 

In the further prosecution of the subject, the agency of 
Providence will be illustrated by means of a variety of 
historical events, connected, directly or indirectly, with 
the history of the church : such as the art of printing and 
paper-making. The invention of the mariner's compass. 
The discovery and first settlement of America. The 
opening to Christian nations of India and the East by the 
Cape of Good Hope. The reformation of the sixteenth 
century. The expulsion of the Moors from Spain. Trans- 
fer of India to protestant hands. The destruction of the 
Spanish invincible armada. Philip II., and Holland. 
The gun-powder plot. The usurpation of Cromwell. 
The hand of God in the origin and progress of modern 
missions. And the present condition of the world as pre- 
pared by Providence for the universal spread of the gospel. 

Such a view of history, it is believed, will magnify in 
the reader's mind the great moral enterprise which God, 
through his providence, is achieving in our world ; and 
conduct to the conclusion that Christianity has, from the 
beginning, had an onward progress 



OS BAITS OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

She has seen days of darkness, of persecution, of ap- 
parent retrogression, and sometimes has seemed almost 
extinct. She has had her nights, long and gloomy — her 
Winters, protracted and dreary. But is the night less 
conducive to man's comfort and prosperity, or the earth's 
fertility, than the day? In the morning man goes forth, 
in the dew of his youth, fresh to his labor ; and the earth, 
smiling through pearl-drop tears, appears in fresher beauty 
and vigor than before. Or is the winter a blank — or a 
retrograde move in nature ? It is a vicissitude that has 
its uses in the economy of the great whole, no less salutary 
and promotive of the, great good, than the freshness of 
spring, or the maturity of summer, or the full sheaf of 
auturgn. 

The dark days of the church have been days of prep- 
a ration. When eclipsed as to worldly prosperity — when 
crushed beneath the foot of despotism, or bleeding from 
the hand of persecution, she has been gathering strength 
and preparing for a new display of her beauties, and for 
a wider extension of her territories. A thousand years 
with the Lord is but as one day. Time is but a moment to 
eternity. The few generations of depression in Egypt, 
when the people of God were learning obedience, and 
gathering strength for their first exhibition as a nation 
and a church, was but a brief season to prepare for their 
future prosperity and glory. The night of a thousand 
years which preceded the morning of the glorious Refor- 
mation, and the more glorious events which were to follow, 
was no more than the necessary preparatory season for 
that onward movement of the church. A complete rev- 
olution was to transpire in the political affairs of the 
world — the ecclesiastical world was to be turned upside 
down — and the social relations of man to be changed. 
A thousand years was not a long time in which to effect 
such changes — changes, every one of which looked for- 
ward to the extension and establishment of the church. 

The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven which a 
woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the 
whole was leavened. It matters not in what part of the 
meal it is put, or that the quantity of leaven is small, or 
that it is lost sight of in the mass. It works and fer- 



UNPROPITIOUS APPEARANCES. 29 

merits, and pervades the whole mass. Yet no marked ef- 
fect is visible till the process is complete. 

Such is the process and the progress of Christianity. The 
apostles cast the leaven into the corrupt mass of human- 
ity. The fermentation began and has never ceased, and 
shall never cease till the whole immense mass of this cor- 
rupt world shall be leavened. It has been a steady, 
silent, irresistible process — always onward, though not 
always visible, and sometimes, seemingly, retrograde. It 
is pervading the whole lump, yet no marked effect shall 
appear till the process shall be complete. Kingdoms rise 
and fall — moral earthquakes shake the earth — commo- 
tions, unaccountable and terrific, follow on the heels of 
commotions — the leaven of Christianity seems lost in the 
fearful and general fermentation — the sun is darkened, 
the moon is covered in sackcloth, the stars fall from 
heaven — all human affairs are thrown into perturbation, 
and Christianity is, from time to time, scouted from the 
habitations of men; yet all this is but the silent, invisible, 
onward, restless workings of the leaven cast over the 
world from the hill of Calvary. Every revolution, every 
commotion, war, oppression, persecution, famine, pesti- 
lence, the wrath of man, and the rage of the elements, 
are, under the mighty hand of God, but parts of the great 
fermenting process, which the world is undergoing from 
the leaven of Christianity. 

Seasons of unpropitious appearances are, oftentimes, 
seasons of the most decided advancement — especially are 
they seasons of preparation for some onward and glorious 
progress. Above all these contending elements of hu- 
man strife, sits serenely the Majesty of Heaven, guiding 
them all to the furtherance of his cause. 

We may very justly regard the present advanced con- 
dition of the world, in the science of government, in phi- 
losophy and general learning, in social, national and sci- 
entific improvements, in the arts, in morality and religion, 
as a state of things providentially induced, to prepare 
the world for that yet more advanced condition which 
we denominate the millennium. We believe the world 
must, morally, socially, and politically, undergo very 
great changes before it will become a fit habitation for 

3* 



30 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

that Christianity which shall bless the earth in the days 
of her millennial glory. But these changes are not the 
work of a generation, but of centuries. And where is 
the century, or the year in any century, in which this 
work has not been going forward — and going forward as 
fast as. in the nature of things, and in consistency with 
the mode of the Divine working, could be ? 

The science of government is, necessarily, a science of 
slow progress. An entire century scarcely affords time 
for a single experiment ; and this experiment may be a 
failure, or, at most, may develop but a little progress to- 
wards the right. Half a score of centuries is but a mod- 
erate period in which to gather up the fragments of good 
which may have resulted from a series of experiments of 
this kind, and to form them into one. Modern liberty, 
though yet scarcely advanced beyond the gristle, is the 
growth of more than a thousand years. Indeed, she lay 
in embryo nearly that period before she saw daylight. 

And so it is in the formation and growth of other great 
features which shall characterize the period of Christian- 
ity's consummation on earth. Human improvement is 
the growth of centuries. 

It was needful, too, that, first of all, the disease, to be 
removed by the healing waters of Bethesda, should be 
known, and its evil be fully developed — that sin should have 
time to mature and bring forth its bitter fruits, and ex- 
hibit its hatefulness and ruin — that Satan should be al- 
lowed first to show what he can make of this earth 
and its resources, before the rightful Proprietor shall come, 
and by his all-pervading providence reduce confusion to 
order, bring light out of darkness, and good out of evil. 

Are we not right, then, in the suggestion that Chris- 
tianity has, from the beginning, had an onward progress ? 
When seemingly overwhelmed in the commotions of po- 
litical revolutions — when seemingly crushed beneath the 
ponderous foot of persecution, her real progress has not 
been arrested. These have been as the grinding of the 
corn, peparing it for the action of the leaven — the break- 
ing to pieces, and the removing out of the way, the 
things that shall be removed, and the establishing of 
those things which shall abide forever. 



CHAPTER II. 



Art of Printing— Paper-making— Mariner's Compass. The Discovery of America, at 
precisely the right time : a new field for Christianity. First settlement. Romanists. 
None but Puritan seed takes deep root here. Character of the first settlers. Geo- 
graphical position. Capabilities and resources of America. Language, Intelligence, 
Political supremacy. Coal. Steam. A cloud. 

u Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt ; thou hast cast out 
the heathen and planted it. Thou preparedst room before it, and 
didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land. The hills 
were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were 
like the goodly cedars. She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and 
her branches unto the river. v — Psalms, Ixxx. 8 — 11. 

The next great event by which Providence most sig- 
nally lengthened the cords and strengthened the stakes of 
his spiritual Israel, was the Discovery of America. 

While this will be allowed to engross our attention in 
the present chapter, I must briefly notice a few prelim- 
inary steps by which Providence has wrought, and is still 
working, wonders in carrying on the work of human 
redemption. I refer to the invention of the art of print- 
ing, of paper-making , and the mariner's compass, and to 
the rise of correct views of astronomy. 

These, in the hands of God, have wrought marvels in 
the extension and establishment of the true religion. 

When, in the evolutions of time, the period had arrived 
that God would employ the agency of the press to extend 
and perpetuate his truth, the first crude idea of the pro- 
cess of printing is, divinely no doubt, suggested to a 
human mind. And how natural, yet purely providential 
it was. 

A man of Harlem, a town in Holland, four centuries 
ago, (1430,) named Laurentius or Lawrence Koster, is 
amusing himself in cutting some letters on the smooth 
bark of a tree. It occurs to him to transfer an impression 



32 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

of these letters on paper. He thus impressed two or 
three lines as a specimen for the amusement of his chil- 
dren. Here was the whole art. An apparently acci- 
dental circumstance gave him the needed hint — from 
which his mind was sent out on the adventurous wings 
of invention — contriving a suitable ink — cutting whole 
pages of letters on blocks of wood, and transferring them 
thence on paper. 

Other minds were now put on the same track, and soon 
the theory of printing was so far made a practical art, 
that copies of the Bible were multiplied with such facility 
that the entire book was offered for sale, in Paris, for 
sixty crowns. The number and uniformity of the copies 
excited no small agitation and astonishment. The vender 
was thought a magician, and, but for his timely escape, 
would have been executed for witchcraft. 

There is not, perhaps, in the hands of Providence 
another so powerful an engine as the press for diffusing a 
knowledge of God and his law, and for carrying out the 
Divine purposes of mercy towards our world. Books are 
mighty things, whether for good or evil. And the art 
which multiplies and perpetuates books by tens of thou- 
sands daily, is an art of vast efficiency — capable of doing 
more to enlighten, reform, and bless the world, than any 
other. In this view, we cannot too devoutly admire the 
providential agency in the invention of the art of print- 
ing. But what is more especially to our present purpose 
is the fact, that the invention of an art of such impor- 
tance in extending the boundaries of truth and perpetua- 
ting its conquests, should be made at this identical time, 
(at the period of the general revival of learning in Europe 
and throughout Christendom,) and that the precious grant 
should be made to Christianity — and not only be early 
confided to Christian hands, no doubt pre-eminently for 
the propagation of religion, but the same Providence has 
kept it, even to the present day, almost exclusively the 
companion and handmaid of Christianity. And if we 
contemplate the power of the press, not only in the pres- 
ent and the past, but in the yet more important part it is 
destined to act in the spread of gospel truth, we shall 



THE PRESS : MARINER'S COMPASS. 33 

admire anew the wonder-working hand; God working 
all things after the counsel of his own will. 

The influence of the art of printing, upon the condition 
of the world, can scarcely be exaggerated or exhausted ; 
"its influence upon all arts and all science — upon e very- 
physical, intellectual and moral resource — every social 
and religious interest — upon the intelligence and freedom, 
the refinement and happiness of mankind— upon all mind 
and all matter." 

A few years before the invention of the art of printing, 
the same inventive Providence gave birth to the science 
of navigation. There was navigation before, but till the 
discovery of the polarity of the magnet and the applica- 
tion of its properties, navigation was a mere coasting 
affair. 

The discovery was as simple as providential : some 
curious persons are amusing themselves by making 
swim, in a basin of water, a loadstone suspended on a 
piece of cork. When left at liberty they observe it 
points to the north. The discovery of this simple fact 
soon threw a new aspect over the whole world. Oceans, 
hitherto unknown and pathless, became a highway for 
the nations. Nations hitherto isolated, were brought 
into neighborhood. The wide realms of the ocean were 
now subjected to the dominion of man. Without this 
discovery the mariner had been still feeling his way along 
his native shore, afraid to launch out beyond the length 
of his line ; America had probably remained unknown, 
the islands of the sea undiscovered ; and all the world 
has gained, and vastly more that it shall gain from inter- 
national communication, from commerce, from immensely 
increased facilities for advancing learning, civilization, 
freedom, the science of government and religion, would 
be wanting. Without the mariner's compass, the work 
of the missionary and the Bible would be confined within 
the narrow limits of a coasting voyage or a land journey. 

When, therefore, the time approached that God would 
advance, by mightier strides than before, the work of 
civilization and Christianity, he discovered the nations 
one to another, through the agency of the mariner's 
compass; and put into the hands of his people the thou- 



34 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

sand facilities which have followed in the wake of this 
one providential discovery. 

But I proceed to the topic which is chiefly to occupy 
the present chapter. 

TJie Hand of God as discernible in the discovery and 
first settlement of America. 

The time had arrived when God would give enlarge- 
ment to Zion. For this purpose he had reserved a large 
and noble continent — a land fitted, by its mighty rivers 
and lofty mountains, its vast prairies and inexhaustible 
mineral productions, to be a theatre for more extensive 
and grand developments of the scheme of redemption 
than had ever yet transpired. The old world had ceased 
to be a fit arena on which the divine purposes connected 
with the church should be carried out. Despotism had 
so choaked the rising germ of liberty, that no fair hope 
remained that she should there ever come to any consid- 
erable maturity. Ecclesiastical domination had so mo- 
nopolized and trampled down religious rights and free- 
dom, that it seemed vain to expect that religion, pure and 
undefiled, should, on such a soil, flourish, spreading her 
branches in all her native beauty and grandeur, and 
bringing forth her golden fruits. So sickly has she already 
become, that she could not stand, except as propped up 
by the civil power ; and so impotent as too often to be 
the sport of every changing wind of politics. And the 
institutions of caste — the usurpations of privileged orders, 
had so disorganized the natural order of society, so broken 
up social relations which God and nature approved, and 
introduced in their stead the most unnatural divisions in 
society, as to make the social institutions of Europe 
unsuited to that free and rapid progress of the truth 
which the divine purpose now contemplated. These had 
become thorns and briars to the rising growth of genuine 
piety. Religion can thrive and expand itself in all ils 
native luxuriance, only in the atmosphere of political 
xreedom and religious tolerance, and where social rights 
are not systematically invaded, and social intercourse 
trammeled by aristocratic pride. It is the nature of our 
religion to bind heart to heart, to make all one in Christ. 
Free, unbounded, disinterested benevolence is its genius. 



THE OLD WORLD AND THE CHURCH. 35 

It is a kingdom above all the kingdoms of the earth, 
incorporating its subjects into a society of its own pecu- 
liar kind. They acknowledge one Lord, one faith, one 
baptism by the Holy Ghost. 

If social relations had become so deranged, or unnat- 
urally modified in the old world as no longer to afford a 
congenial soil to the growth of Christianity ; if the prevail- 
ing customs, maxims, principles, and habits of thinking, 
had become such as to preclude the expectation that re- 
ligion would there flourish in all her loveliness and vigor ; 
and if Despotism, religious and civil, stood up in array 
against its onward march and speedy victory, we see 
reason why God should transplant his choice vine into a 
soil unoccupied by such noxious plants, and more favora- 
ble to its growth and security. Such a soil was found in 
America, unoccupied, and where " the vine brought out 
of Egypt" might take deep root, " that the hills might be 
covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof be 
like the goodly cedars ; that she should send out her 
boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river." 

Here, somewhat analogous to there-commencement of 
religious institutions after the flood, the church was, as 
it were, re-established; here, again, an opportunity af- 
forded to remove the " hay, wood and stubble," on which 
the former building had been reared, and to build anew 
on the foundation of the prophets and apostles, Jesus 
Christ being the chief corner-stone. 

Contemplate, then, the discovery of America, as one 
of those leading acts of Providence for the propagation 
and establishment of the truth. When God would 
enlarge the theatre on which to display the riches of his 
grace, he caused a spirit of bold adventure to move upon 
the face of the stagnant waters of Europe, which found 
no rest till it brought forth a new world. I am not here 
to dilate on the glory of this discovery, or the magnitude 
of many of its results. It had political and commercial 
bearings more magnificent than could then have been 
conceived, or than are at this late period understood by 
us. These, however, were no more than the incidental 
advantages of the main design of this event. America 
was now added to the known domains of the world, to 



30 hand or god in history. 

>m for the church, and to become in its turn a 
fountain, from which should go forth streams of salvation 
to the ends of the earth. This I conceive to be the design 
of Providence in this discovery. 

The particulars which here demand our attention, are 
the time o£ the discovery; the manner of the first settle- 
ment o( this country : the character of the first colonists ; 
and the geographical position and capabilities of America. 
These all distinctly indicate the hand of God, and our 
future destinies in reference to the church. 

1. The discovery of this country happened at the pre- 
cise time when the exigencies of the church demanded a 
new and enlarged field for her better protection, and for 
the more glorious development of her excellencies. When 
America had become sufficiently known and prepared to 
receive her precious charge, the reformation had done its 
work, and yet the church was but partially emancipated 
from the bondage of papal corruption. The reformed 
church of England and of Europe was, at that period, as 
far advanced, perhaps, towards the primitive simplicity 
and purity of the gospel, as could reasonably be expected 
on the soil w r here the principles of the reformation were 
laboring to take root. That soil was already pre-occu- 
pied and overrun with a growth hostile to those princi- 
ples. Though manumitted from the dark cells and 
galling chains of Romanism, religion found herself but ill 
at ease in her new relations. She was still laced tight 
in the stays of forms and liturgies, and compelled to move 
stiffly about among mitred heads and princely dignita- 
ries — to wear the gewgaws of honor, or shine in the bau- 
bles of vanity. Though hailed once more as the daughter 
of liberty, she neither breathed freely, nor moved un tram- 
meled, nor unencumbered, stretched forth her hand to 
wield mightily the sword of the spirit, to overcome prin- 
cipalities and powers, and to dispense her celestial gifts, 
till man shall be happy and the world free. 

It was at such a time that the " woman, clothed with 
the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head 
a crown of twelve stars," having long, and in various 
ways, been persecuted by the great red dragon, of 
f seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns on his 



FIRST SETTLEMENT OP AMERICA. 37 

heads/' had given to her the two wings of a great eagle, 
that she might fly into the wilderness, where she had a 
place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a 
thousand, two hundred and three score days. And here, 
free, strong, lofty as the eagle, (our national banner,) she 
lives, and breathes, and moves, stable as our everlasting 
hills, extensively diffused as our far-reaching rivers, and 
free as our mountain air. Once it were enough that a 
persecuted church should find refuge in the straightened 
valleys of Piedmont and Languedock ; now she must 
have the valleys of the Connecticut, the Hudson, the 
Ohio, the Mississippi, and all the lofty hills and the rich 
vales that stretch out, in their varied beauty and luxu- 
riance, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 

Thus did God open an asylum for his oppressed people 
precisely at the time they needed it. # And thus, with a 
mighty hand, did he establish his church in this new 
world. 

2. There were, too, many things connected with the 
first settlement of this country, which indicate the grand 
design of Providence in its discovery. Follow his foot- 
steps for a moment and you will see it. 

The leading design was, no doubt, a religious one — else 
why should the King of nations, who setteth up one and 
pulleth down another, have given preference to those 
arrangements which show religion and his church to 
have been the chief objects of his regard and agency. 
That it was so, a few facts will testify : 

It is known that the first discoverers of this continent 
were Roman Catholics. America was taken possession 
of and made subject to Catholic governments. Bearing 
in mind this fact, you will, with the greater pleasure, fol- 
low the wonder-working Hand which overturned and 
overturned till this once Roman Catholic country has 
been wrested, piece-meal, (as the wants of the reformed 
religion have required,) from the domination of Rome 
and the ghostly tyranny of the Pope, and given into the 
hands of Protestants, and made the strong hold of the 

• lt The Mahammedans," says M. Oelsner, " would have discovered America even 
centuries before Columbus, had not their fleet been wrecked in a tempest, after clear- 
ing the straits of Gibraltar.— Foster, vol II. p. 237. 

4 



38 RAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

doctrines of the reformation. Nearly the whole of North 
America has already been transferred. Nor is this all. 
Ir was not enough that it should become a Protestant 
country. It should grow up into a nation under the still 
more benign influences of Protestantism reformed. New 
England was to be the nursery, and Puritanism the spirit 
that should pervade this new world. 

And what a singular train of providences brought about 
so important, yet so unlikely an event. Nothing seemed 
more probable at one time, than that France would be 
the owner of New England — that these hills and valleys, 
now so healthful in moral vigor, would have languished 
under the crucifix and the mitred priest, and groaned 
beneath the heavy rod of the Roman pontiff. And New 
England might have been as notorious as a fountain of 
abominations and papal sorceries, as she now is as a 
radiating point of light, and intellectual and spiritual life. 
But mark the hand of God here. 

New England was early an object of desire with the 
French. As early as the year 1605, De Mont "explored 
and claimed for France, the rivers, the coasts and bays 
of New England. But the decree had gone out that the 
beast of Rome should never pollute this land of promise, 
and it could not be revoked. The hostile savages first 
prevent their settlement. Yet they yield not their pur- 
pose. Thrice in the following year was the attempt 
renewed, and twice were they driven back by adverse 
winds, and the third time wrecked at sea. Again did 
Pourtrincourt attempt the same enterprise, bnt was, in 
like manner, compelled to abandon the project. It was 
not so written. This was the land of promise which God 
would give to the people of his own choice. Hither he 
w T ould transplant the "vine" which he had brought out 
of Egypt. Here it should take root and send out its 
boughs unto the sea, and its branches unto the river.* 

At a still later period, a French armament of forty ships 
of war, under the Duke D'Anville, was destined for the 
destruction of New England. It sailed from Chebucto, 
in Nova Scotia, for this purpose. In the meantime, the 

* Bancroft's History of United States. 



NEW ENGLAND FOR THE PURITANS. 39 

pious people, apprised of their danger, had appointed a 
day of fasting and prayer, to be observed in all the 
churches. While Mr. Prince was officiating in Old 
South Church, Boston, on this fast day, and praying most 
fervently that the dreaded calamity might be averted, a 
sudden gush of wind arose (the day, till then, had been 
perfectly clear,) so violently, as to cause the clattering of 
the windows. The reverend gentleman paused in his 
prayer, and looking around on the congregation with a 
countenance of hope, he again commenced, and with great 
devotional ardor, supplicated the Almighty to cause that 
wind to frustrate the object of their enemies. A tempest 
ensued, in which the greater part of the French fleet was 
wrecked. The duke and his principal general committed 
suicide — many died with disease, and thousands were 
drowned. A small remnant returned to France, without 
health, and spiritless, and the enterprise was abandoned 
forever. 

It is worthy of remark, how God made room for his 
people before he brought them here. He drove out the 
heathen before them. A pestilence raged just before the 
arrival of the Pilgrims, which swept off vast numbers of 
the Indians. And the newly arrived were preserved 
from absolute starvation by the very corn which the 
Indians had buried for their winter's provisions. 

And here we may note another providence : none but 
Puritan feet should tread this virgin soil, and occupy the 
portion God had chosen for his own heritage. Before the 
arrival of the Pilgrims, a grant had been given and a 
colony established in New England, called new Plymouth. 
But this did not prosper. A new and modified patent 
was then granted to Lord Lenox and the Marquis of 
Buckingham. But no permanent settlement was made. 
The hierarchy of England should not have the posses- 
sion. They to whom the Court of Heaven had granted 
it, had not yet come. It was reserved for the Puritans. 
Here should be nurtured, in the cradle of hardships, and 
perils from the savages, and from the wilderness, and suf- 
ferings manifold and grievous, a spirit which should nerve 
the moral muscles of the soul, and rear up a soldiery of 



40 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

the cross made o( sturdier stuff, and animated by a purer 
spirit than the world had before known. 

" Had -New England/' says the historian of those times, 
"been colonized immediately on the discovery of the 
American continent, the old English institutions would 
have been planted under the powerful influence of the 
Roman Catholic religion. Had the settlement been made 
under Elizabeth, it would have been before the activity 
of the popular mind in religion had conducted to a cor- 
responding activity of mind in politics. The Pilgrims 
were Englishmen, protestants, exiles for religion, men 
disciplined by misfortune, cultivated by opportunities of 
extensive observation, equal in rank as in rights, and 
bound by no code but that which was imposed by 
religion, or might be created by the public will." 

" America opened as a field of adventure just at the 
the time when mind began to assume its independence, 
and religion its vitality." 

This continent seemed signalized from the first as the 
asylum of freedom. Nothing else would thrive here. 
Ecclesiastical domination and political despotism were 
often transplanted hither, and nourished by all the kindly 
influences of wealth and nobility ; they basked for a time 
in the sunshine of the court and the king, yet they were 
exotics, and never thrived. While it was yet the spring- 
time of Puritanism, its institutions taking root and send- 
ing up its thrifty germs, and giving promise of a sturdy 
growth, those strange vines already begun to look sear, 
and give no doubtful tokens of a stinted existence and a 
premature decay. Read the records of the first settle- 
ment of several of the colonies to this country — especially 
one in Massachusetts and another in Virginia, where 
strenuous attempts were made to introduce the peculiar 
institutions of the old world, and you will not fail to 
observe the singular fact that all such attempts were abor- 
tive. Providence had decreed this should be the land of 
toleration and freedom. The colonies which were not 
founded on such principles, either failed of success, or did 
not prosper till leavened with the good leaven of Puritan- 
ism — clearly indicating that Providence designed this to 
be a theatre for the more perfect development of his 



CHARACTER OF THE FIRST COLONISTS. 41 

grace toman. It was Religion that built up the first 
nation in this wilderness, and it is only our moral pre- 
eminence and prospects that distinguish us from other 
nations.* 

3. The character^ of the first colonists. There is per- 
haps nothing in which the hand of God is so conspicuous 
towards America, as in the selection of the materials with 
which to rear the superstructure of religion and govern- 
ment in this new world. God had been preparing these 
materials nearly three centuries. Wickliff was the father 
of the Puritans ; and from him followed a succession of 
dauntless advocates for the emancipation of the human 
mind from the power of despotism. The mighty spirits 
that rose at the time of the reformation were but the 
pupils of their predecessors. The principles so boldly 
proclaimed by Luther, and so logically and judiciously 
sustained by Calvin, were the principles matured and 
more fully developed, of Huss and Jerome — of many a 
revolving mind in England and on the continent. Puri- 
tanism is the reformation reformed. The principles 
which led to the settlement of New England, and which 
pervaded her colonies, and became the only principles on 
which Heaven would smile throughout this wide conti- 
nent, are but the principles of the reformation matured 
and advanced. Those extraordinary characters, who, 
for religion's sake, braved dangers incredible, endured 
sacrifices that seemed not endurable, and periled all 
things in these western wilds, were Heaven's chosen 
agents, to prepare a new and a wider field for the display 
of what Christianity can do to bless the world. Europe 
had been sifted, and her finest wheat taken to sow in this 
American soil. Her hills and dales had been again and 
again ransacked, to collect the choice few who should 
found a new state, and plant a new church. The Pilgrims 
were the best men, selected from the best portion of the 
best nation on the face of the earth. May we not, then, 
indulge the delightful hope that God has purposes of yet 

* The first colony in North America, save Mexico, was a Protestant colony, planted 
by Caspar de Coligni, as a city of Refuge for Protestants. It was destroyed expressly 
as Protestant. Thus was North America baptized by Jesuit priests with Protestant 
blood ; yet despite all the machinations of Rome, God has confirmed the covenant and 
made this land the asylum and home of Protestantism. — Bancroft, vol. I., pp. 61, 73. 

4* 



48 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

more moral grandeur to fulfill, in connection with this 
country ? 

Indeed, this idea seems to have been coupled with the 
earliest conceptions in the mind of Columbus, concerning 
an American continent. That great navigator is said 
to have been a diligent and devout student of the prophe- 
cies, and was actuated, in no small degree, in his adven- 
tures westward, "by the hopes he cherished of extending 
here the kingdom of Christ." And in the mind of his 
royal patroness, (Isabella of Arragon,) the conversion of 
the heathen to Christianity, was an object " paramount to 
all the rest."* 

It was a signal providence that prepared such mate- 
rials in the heart of England and in the bosom of the 
English church, preserved them and proved them in the 
furnace of affliction, while in their own land, and during 
their exile in Holland, and in their journeyings on the 
deep, and, finally, collected them on the iron bound coasts 
of New England, and formed them into one living tem- 
ple, fitly joined together, furnished and beautified as a 
model building for generations yet to come. 

The longer the world stands, the more profoundly will 
be revered the character of our Pilgrim fathers, and the 
more religiously shall we admire the Divine agency which 
so controlled events, that one of the first settlements in 
the new world should be composed of such characters, 
and should so soon gain a pre-eminence over all the 
other colonies, and so soon, too, and in all after time, 
exercise a controlling influence on the destinies of the 
whole country and of the world. For the institutions of 
this country, both civil and religious, were cast in the 
mould of Puritanism. Had any other of the colonies 
been allowed to stand in this relation to the whole, how 
different would have been the cast of American liberty 
and religion ! As it was, men of the most unbending 
integrity and untiring industry ; men humble and unob- 
trusive, yet courageous and immovable at the post of 
duty ; yielding when wrong, yet inflexible when right ; 
plain and frugal, yet intelligent and liberal; men who 

* Prescott's Ferdinand and Isabella, vol. II. p. 496. 



INFLUENCE OF THE PURITANS. 43 

had been nurtured in the school of persecution, and suf- 
fered the loss of all things, that they might breathe the 
uncontaminated air of freedom ; men who hated oppres- 
sion, abhorred ignorance and vice — who were, in their 
very souls, republicans and Christians — these were the 
men, chosen out by sovereign Wisdom, to control the 
destinies of the new world. And they have done it. 
The enterprise and intelligence, the undying love of 
liberty, the religious spirit — I may say, the population of 
our puritan colonies, have spread themselves over the 
whole continent. And what is worthy of special remark, 
these only prosper in our country. You look in vain 
over the wide expanse of our territory to find thrift and 
prosperity, temporal or spiritual, except under the 
auspices of a Puritan influence. Who people our wide 
western domains, and plant there the institutions of learn- 
ing and religion ? Who found our colleges and semina- 
ries, publish our books, teach our youth, sustain our 
benevolent enterprises, and go to pagan lands to make 
wretchedness smile, and ignorance speak wisdom ? By 
whose skill and industry rolls the railroad car over the 
length and breadth of our land, and whiten the ocean with 
canvas ? Who, if not the sons of the Pilgrims, nerved 
with the spirit of the Pilgrims ? Tell me in what propor- 
tion, in any section of our country, the people are leavened 
with the leaven imported in the May-flower, and I can 
tell you in what proportion they are an enterprising, 
prosperous, moral and religious people. Time shall 
expire, before the immeasurable influences of Puritanism 
on the destinies of our country and the world shall cease 
to act. 

Massachusetts and Mexico furnish a forcible illustra- 
tion of our idea. Mexico was colonized just one hundred 
years before Massachusetts. Her first settlers were the 
noblest spirits of Spain in her Augustan age ; the epoch 
of Cervantes, Cortes, Pizaro, Columbus, Gonzalvo de 
Cordova, Cardinal Ximenes, and the great and good Isa- 
bella. Massachusetts was settled by the poor Pilgrims 
of Plymouth, who carried with them nothing but their 
own hardy virtues and indomitable energy. Mexico, with 
a rich soil, and adapted to the production of every thing 



44 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

which crows out of the earth, and possessing every metal 
used by man — Massachusetts, with a sterile soil and un- 
congenial climate, and no single article of transportation 
but ice and rock. How have these blessings, profusely 
given by Providence, been improved on the one hand, 
and obstacles overcome on the other? What is now the 
respective condition of the two countries ? In produc- 
tive industry, wide-spread diffusion of knowledge, public 
institutions of every kind, general happiness and continu- 
ally increasing prosperity ; in letters, arts, morals, re- 
ligion. — in every thing which makes a people great, there 
is not in the world, and there never was in the world, 
such a commonwealth as Massachusetts. And Mexico — 
what is she ? # 

But who ordered all the circumstances which brought 
about an event so unexpected, yet so influential as such 
a settlement of America ? And for what purpose — if not 
that he might here plant the glory of Lebanon and the 
excellency of Carmel and Sharon? Here he "prepared 
room before it, and caused it to take deep root/' 

4. Again, we discover the wonder-working hand of 
Providence in the geographical position and resources of 
our country, as indicating her future destinies in refer- 
ence to the church and the world. 

There is much w r orthy of notice in our geographical 
position. This gives us peculiar advantages. We are 
separated, by the expanse of a wide ocean, from every 
principal nation on the face of the earth. We may live 
at peace w T ith all. The old world may be convulsed-— 
Europe and Asia be deluged in blood, yet not a clarion 
of war be heard west of the Atlantic, or a river tinged in 
all our wide domains. Here we may live safe from all 
those upheavings of revolution, which have, and which 
will continue to overturn and overturn, till the great 
fountains of error and despotism be broken up, and free 
institutions be planted on their ruins. Here we may 
direct all our energies, mental, physical, or moral, to the 
consummating of those stupendous plans of Providence 
in reference to this country. Far removed from the 

* See Waddy Thompson's Mexico. 



GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION AND RESOURCES. 45 

lands where errors in religion and politics had become 
stereotyped in habit, and interwoven in the very warp 
and woof of social relations, we lack no opportunity in 
which to try the great experiment of Liberty. Such are 
our local advantages — such our institutions, that we may, 
unlike the people of any other nation, advance learning, 
establish and propagate religion, and subserve the general N 
interests of the church. Religion exists here untram- 
meled, free as the air we breathe, or the water we drink. 
This makes our nation more suitable than any other to 
become a fountain from which shall go out streams of 
salvation to the ends of the earth. 

But a yet more remarkable feature is to be found in 
the capabilities of our country, to become a mighty instru- 
ment in the hands of God for the universal spread of 
Christianity. 

I have referred to our facilities in free institutions, and 
freedom from the trammels of ecclesiastical organizations. 
The American church, if she will go forth in the vigor 
and simplicity of herself, would be like a young man pre- 
pared to run a race. She is admirably constituted to 
be Heaven's almoner to the nations. Pure Christianity 
is republican. The American soil is peculiarly adapted to 
produce that enterprise, freedom and simplicity, suited to 
extend religion and its thousand blessings to the ends of 
the earth. No church in the world is so constituted that 
it may put forth so great a moral power. We have only 
to employ the rare facilities of our position, to make us 
the most efficient instrument in the conversion of the 
world. 

But I referred more especially to the resources here 
prepared by Providence, for the accomplishment of the 
work in question — resources in territory, in soil, in popu- 
lation prospectively ; in wealth and language ; in learning 
and enterprise ; and in the power of steam. 

The present territory of the United States is equal to 
that of all Europe, exclusive of Russia. It is more than 
six times larger than Great Britain and France together ; 
and as large as China and Hindoostan united. 

And if we admit that our soil is not surpassed in fer- 
tility by any other, or our climate in salubrity, there 



46 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

seems nothing to hinder America becoming as populous 
as any other portion of the world. Suppose it to reach 
the present ratio of population in Europe — 110 to the 
square mile — and there would teem on our vast territo- 
ries a population of 220 millions. Or should the density 
equal that of China — 150 to the square mile — our popula- 
tion would be 300 millions. That the soil of the United 
States is capable of supporting this number there can be no 
doubt. A European writer of credit has asserted that the 
" resources of the American continent, if fully developed, 
would afford sustenance to 3,600 millions of inhabitants, 
or four times the present population of the globe" — and 
that the actual population will not fall short of 2,000 
millions — giving to the United States 270 millions. 

Nor is this merely what may be. The present rapid 
increase of our population is actually swelling our num- 
bers into these enormous dimensions. "And what is 
more surprising," says the writer just quoted, " there is 
every probability that this prodigious population will be 
in existence within three or four centuries. The imagina- 
tion is lost in contemplating a stateof things which will 
make so great and rapid a change in the condition of the 
world. We almost fancy it a dream ; yet the result is 
based on principles quite as certain as those which govern 
men in their ordinary pursuits. " # 

Our population is found to double every 23 years — say. 
for safety's sake, 25 years — and we have to look forward 
only 100 years, and our present ratio of increase gives us 
288 millions ; or 125 years, and we have on our soil 576 
millions; or 150 years, and we number more than the 
present population of the globe. Indeed, to take the 
result of 100 years (288 millions) as the ultimatum of 
increase to which the resources of our soil will allow our 
population to advance, and what a host have we here for 
the moral conquest of the world. And suppose this enor- 
mous population to be what, under the peculiar smiles of 
Heaven, they ought to be ; and what, in the singular 
dealings of God, they were designed to be ; and what, 
under the quickening and transforming power of the 

* De Toqueville. 



POWER OF THE PRESS. 47 

Holy Ghost, they would be, and how grand their pros- 
pective influence on the regeneration of the world! 
Portray in your mind a nation of 288 millions, imbued 
with the principles of Puritan integrity, enterprise, deci- 
sion, self-denial, and benevolence ; her civil institutions 
so modeled as to leave Religion free as our mountain air, 
to invigorate the plants of virtue her,}, or to waft its bless- 
ings over the arid sands of Africa, or the snow-top moun- 
tains of Tartary ; her social relations unshackled by the 
iron chains of custom and caste ; her religion no longer 
laced in the stays of needless rites, liturgies, prelacy, or 
state interference ; the public mind enlightened by an 
efficient system of common education ; or you may, if 
you please, contemplate our nation as peculiarly fitted to 
bring to bear on the nations the power of the press, or to 
facilitate the world's deliverance by the unlimited scope 
of our navigation — from whatever point you look, you 
will find, in this land of the Pilgrims, resources laid up in 
store, by which Providence may, in his own set time, 
revolutionize the world. 

What means this curtailing of distances — this facility 
of intercourse between the remotest points of our own 
country and of the world, if He that worketh all things 
after the counsel of his own will, be not about to use it 
for the furtherance of the cause which is as the apple of 
his eye ? If the introduction of the Greek classics into 
Europe, drew aside the veil of the dark ages, and the 
invention of paper-making and of printing perpetuated 
the advantages of the Reformation, may we not expect 
that the application of the power of steam is destined to 
subserve a scarcely less important end, in the conversion 
of the world ? 

To appreciate the force of this, we need to contemplate 
in the same view, three collateral facts : the extensive 
prevalence of the English language, and its treasures of 
religious knowledge ; the present supremacy, on the 
political arena, of the nations who speak this language ; 
and the singular distribution of these immense deposits of 
coal, which are to supply the power to print and distri- 
bute books, and to convey them, by whom " knowledge 
shall increase/' over the broad world. 



48 THE HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

Ours is the language of the arts and sciences, of trade 
and commerce, of civilization and religious liberty. It is 
the language of Protestantism — I had almost said, of 
piety. It is a store-house of the varied knowledge which 
brings a nation within the pale of civilization and Chris- 
tianity. As a vehicle of our institutions and principles of 
civil and religious liberty, it is "belting the earth/' push- 
ing east and west, and extending over the five great geo- 
graphical divisions of the world, giving no doubtful pre- 
sage that, with its extraordinary resources for ameliorating 
the condition of man, it will soon become universal. 
Already it is the language of the Bible. More copies of 
the sacred Scriptures have been published in the English 
language, than in all other tongues combined. And the 
annual issues in this language, at the present time, be- 
yond all doubt, far surpass those of all the world be- 
sides. So prevalent is this language already become, 
as to betoken that it may soon become the language of 
international communication for the world. # This fact, 
connected with the next, that the two nations speaking 
this language have, within a few years past, gained the 
most extraordinary ascendancy, holding in their hands 
nearly all the maritime commerce and naval power of 
the world, giving tone to national opinion and feeling, and 
sitting as arbiters among the nations, dictating terms of 
peace and war, and extending their empire over the 
nations of the East, holds out a glorious presage of the 
part America is destined to act in the subjugation of the 
world to Christ. I say America, believing that 

" Westward the star of empire takes its way ; 
The four first acts already past, 
A fifth shall close the drama of the day. 
Time's noblest offspring is the last." 

If it be a fact (and history proves it,) that wealth, 

* The New York Observer recently acknowledged the receipt of the following for- 
eign papers published ;.n English : 
Three published at Hong Kong and Canton, China. 
Ten or twelve in Hindoostan and the British East Indies. 
Four in Rome, (Italy.) and about the Mediterranean. 
Four in Liberia and Souih Africa. 

Twelve or thirteen in Australia and the Sandwich Islands. 
Four in Oregon, California and Northern Mexico, 
fcix or seven in Southern Mexico. 



POWER OF STEAM. 49 

power, science, literature, all follow in the train of num- 
bers, general intelligence and freedom, we may expect 
that America will ere long become the metropolis of 
civilization, and the grand depository of the vast re- 
sources which Providence has prepared for the salvation 
of the world. The same causes which transferred the 
" sceptre of civilization" and the crown of knowledge 
from the banks of the Nile and the Euphrates, must, at 
no distant day, bear them onward to the valley of the 
Mississippi. 

But we must not overlook our third fact : the singular 
distribution of coal deposits. 

Coal, like the English language, like freedom, general 
intelligence, or piety, is protestant. In vain do you 
search the world over to find any considerable deposit of 
this agent, except where the English language is spoken, 
or where the protestant religion is professed. Hence the 
power of steam — as the power of the press and of com- 
mon education, three mighty transformers of nations — 
has been given to the people of God for the noblest of 
purposes. 

" Steam," says the London Quarterly, " is the acknowl- 
edged new element of advancement by which this age is 
distinguished from all which have preceded it. By its 
magic power, distance is set at nought ; and the produc- 
tions of the antipodes are brought rapidly together. Coal 
must, therefore, henceforth be the motor and metor of all 
commercial nations. Without it no modern people can 
become great, either in manufactures or the naval art!' 

As an illustration of this, if the digression may be 
allowed, the mighty transformations that are this day 
taking place in the countries about the Mediterranean, 
especially among the Turks, where lives the presiding 
genius of Moslemism, might be adduced. The paddle 
wheels of European intelligence and enterprise, are there 
daily breaking up the stagnant waters of oriental supersti- 
tion, ignorance and despotism. Not a steamer plows the 
waters from the pillars of Hercules to the sea of Japan, 
that goes not as a herald of civilization and Christianity 
to those benighted nations. 

And another fact : the English Steam Navigation 
5 



50 THE HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

Company is furrowing the broad Pacific amidst its thou- 
sand Islands, and along the western main of America. 
And, what is yet more in point, extensive beds of coal 
have been found on the western coasts of both North and 
South America, and also on the Atlantic side of the Isth- 
mus of Panama ; deposits stored away by the hand of the 
Great Disposer, ready, at the time of need, to generate a 
power that shall, at Heaven's bidding, convert the whole 
Pacific into one great highway for the nations to pass 
over.* 

Yet, w T hile indulging these pleasant anticipations, I 
have not lost sight of the cloud that at present darkens 
our atmosphere. When I speak of the tremendous power 
of the press for good, I am aware of its abuse. When I 
speak of American enterprise and zeal, I am not unmind- 
ful that we can scarcely, for any length of time, prosecute 
any good cause without making it a hobby, and riding it 
so far and so fast, as to cripple it for life, if not to kill it. 
We seem never satisfied in pursuing our plans of benevo- 
lence and reform, till we have driven ourselves, and all 
about us, into a swamp from which we can neither extri- 
cate ourselves nor be extricated. And when I speak of 
the stern principles which originated the first settlement 
of this country, and of the admirable institutions of our 
forefathers, and of our high pretensions to freedom, intel- 
ligence and piety, I bear in mind that we have proved 
ourselves unworthy our noble inheritance, and recreant 
to our good professions. But I am attempting to look 
beyond the cloud, which at present intercepts our vision, 
to those better things reserved for the second Israel. 
Despotism and anarchy may cover our land with a tem- 
porary gloom. So gross, indeed, have been our national 
sins, and so heaven-provoking our ingratitude, and our 
perversion of heaven's richest gifts, that we may expe- 
rience the divine rebuke, sore as death, yet the counsels 
of God shall not come to nought. He shall not, in vain, 
prepare such munitions of war, and provide such vast 

* The late discovery of immense beds of coal on Vancouver's Island deserves a more 
special notice. In the new contemplated route to the Indies, across the American 
continent and the Pacific, we are beginning to see the reasons why these vast deposits 
were placed there, and why they are brought to light just at this time. 



i 



OUR RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES. 51 

resources for his work, and then not make them effectual 
in the subjugation of the world to his beloved Son. 

In the review of this subject, the mind naturally recurs 
to the great Disposer of events — what a display here of 
his sovereignty — of his power, wisdom and goodness — 
how incomprehensible his plans — how inflexible his de- 
termination to sustain and carry forward his cause — how 
infinitely foolish is all resistance. Such reflections are 
befitting as we read the providential history of our coun- 
try. Yet we ought here especially to bear in mind, 

1. To what a rich inheritance we are born. One of 
Heaven's richest blessings, is a religious parentage. This 
is a patrimony more precious than fine gold. Our na- 
tional parentage was eminently religious. The differ- 
ence between a people starting into existence from bar- 
barism and ignorance, or amidst all the propitious 
circumstances which smiled on the first settlement of 
this country, is vast beyond calculation. We were born 
to a rich inheritance — to an undying love of liberty — to 
toleration — to a high state of intelligence — to the sternest 
principles of morality — to the unwavering practice of 
virtue. We ought, therefore, to be the most religious, 
free, happy, bevevolent people on the face of the earth. 

2. Our responsibilities and duties correspond with ou? 
privileges. God expects much of us. He has made us 
a full fountain, that we may send forth copious streams to 
fertilize the desert around. He has embodied in our 
nation a moral power, and put into our hands a ma- 
chinery, which, if kept in operation, will not fail to make 
its power felt to the ends of the earth, till all nations shall 
be subjugated to Prince Immanuel. 

3. America is the land of magnificent experiments — the 
land in which should be developed new principles and 
forms of government — a new social condition, and an 
advanced condition of the church — popular government, 
equal rights and a free church. Columbus added a new 
province to the world, new territory for civilization and 
religion to expand upon — and new domains on which 
should flourish a freer government and purer church than 
was practicable in the old world. Here God is solving 
certain great problems: can the church support herself? 



52 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

Can a people govern themselves? Can society exist 
without caste ? In the great republic of North America, 
these experiments, which, in the old world, have resulted 
in so indifferent success, have been in successful progress 
three quarters of a century, and we hazard little, it is 
believed, in predicting their complete success. In no 
country have the ends for which governments are con- 
stituted, been better realized, or the designs of religion 
been more nobly carried out, yet the power of governing 
lies in the hands of the people, and the support and 
extension of religion is dependent on free contributions. 

4. The tremendous guilt of our dereliction in duty. 
After all that God has done to make us such a nation — 
such a one as he has need of to win over the nations to 
himself, if we hold ourselves aloof from his great plans 
of mercy towards our world, and refuse the honor he 
would confer upon us, in making us the instruments of his 
will, we must expect he will withdraw from us the light 
of his countenance, and choose others more worthy of 
his favor. How ought we, then, to fear lest we displease 
God by our apathy, and be left to drink the cup of his 
indignation for our manifold sins. 

5. The immense immigration to our country at the 
present time, is filling a page in the providential history 
of America, not to be overlooked. Had such immigra- 
tions taken place at any former period of our history, they 
would have ruined us. Every receding wave of the At- 
lantic, returns freighted with a new cargo of foreign pop- 
ulation. This heterogeneous mass now amounts to near 
half a million annually. At no former period could our 
young and forming institutions have sustained the shock 
of so huge a mass. What would have crushed the sap- 
ling, may not harm the sturdy oak. Perhaps we cannot 
meet unharmed the shock now : certainly not, unless our 
institutions are founded deep and firm in the basis of 
everlasting truth, and stand as a rock amidst the rolling 
waves. We do, however, indulge the hope that such is 
now the maturity and stability of our civil and religious 
institutions, that we may, with safety to ourselves, and 
great benefit to the surplus population of the old world, 
open wide our arms and receive them to our bosom. 



IMMIGRATION TO OUR COUNTRY. 53 

And now that we are prepared to receive them, oppres- 
sion, famine, pestilence and revolution, conjoin to eject 
immense masses from Europe to seek an asylum in this 
new world. 

We cannot here too profoundly admire the wisdom of 
that Providence, which has hitherto delayed the full tide 
of immigration till we were able to bear it. What fear- 
ful responsibilities has God laid upon us ! What wisdom 
and virtue is needed in our national counsels ; what 
faith, and holiness, and prayer, in the church ! Millions 
of the papal world are, like an overwhelming tide, rolling 
in upon us, to be enlightened, elevated, Christianized, and 
taught the privileges and prerogatives of freemen — to 
say nothing here of the three millions of instruments 
placed in our hands by a system of unrighteous bondage, 
to " sharpen, polish, and prepare for the subjugation of 
another continent to the Prince of Peace." 



CHAPTER III. 



The Reformation.— General remarks— state of Europe and the world. The Cru« 
sades— their cause and effect. Revival of Greek literature in Europe. The Arabs. 
Daring spirit of inquiry. Bold spirit of adventure. Columbus. The Cabots. 
Charles V. Henry VIII. Francis I. Leo X. Rise of liberty. Feudalism. Distri- 
bution of political power. 

u All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing ; and 
he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among 
the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand, or say 
unto him, What doest thou?" — Daniel, iv. 35. 

So spake the monarch of Chaldea after he had been 
brought by a most signal interposition of Divine Provi- 
dence, to " bless the Most High, and to praise and honor 
Him that liveth forever" — another illustrious instance of 
the sovereignty of Providence in the extension of the 

5* 



54 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

true religion. God spake and it was done — He looked 
on the throne of the potent monarch, and it trembled; 
he touched the towering hills of Babylon's pride and 
power, and they vanished like smoke. The name of the 
God of Israel was proclaimed from the throne, from the 
palace and the court, and wafted on by princes, nobles, 
and people, throughout the vast dominions of the Chal- 
dean empire. 

So God has always shaped the destinies of nations, to 
suit the prosperity of his church ; turning the hearts of 
kings, princes, and people, to favor Zion as her need re- 
quire, or blotting out of existence the nation that should 
dare to raise its hand against the Lord's anointed ones. 
It is awfully grand to contemplate the exactitude with 
which the declaration has been verified : " I will bless 
them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee." 
And it is a remarkable fact, that no people or nation, 
since the call of Abraham, have lifted their hand to op- 
press or maltreat the true church, and not, in their turn, 
fallen under the ban of the Divine displeasure. Did La- 
ban prosper after he defrauded Jacob of his wages ? Did 
the Egyptians prosper after they began to afflict the peo- 
ple of God ? Was it well with the Moabites, who refused 
to let Israel pass, or to relieve their necessities with bread 
and water ? Where now are those mighty empires who 
once presumed to raise the arm of oppression against Is- 
rael ? Egypt, Moab, Ammon, the nations of Palestine — 
proud Babylon, imperial Rome ? So shall it be with the 
King's enemies. Has Spain ever prospered since she 
drew the sword of persecution against the seed of Jacob ? 
Has the white flag of peace since waved a truce to 
Heaven's indignation ? Where are those kingdoms, that, 
during the bloody reign of the Beast, devoured fifty mill- 
ions of the saints of the Most High ? — burning, torturing, 
impaling, butchering, without mercy, the unoffending 
children of God ? 

On the other hand, how was it with Abimelech, who 
proffered his generous hospitality to the patriarch Abra- 
ham ? How with the Egyptians, while they favored the 
heirs of promise ? And how went the world with Obed- 



REFORMATION OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 55 

edom while the ark of the Lord found a resting place in 
his house ? 

How have the mighty wheels of Providence rolled on, 
crushing beneath them all that opposeth, and bearing 
aloft, far above the stormy atmosphere of earth, the pre- 
cious interests of Zion ! How have the inhabitants of the 
earth, the great, the noble, the wise, been reputed as 
nothing, while the sovereign Lord has done according to 
his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants 
of the earth, and none can stay his hand or say to him, 
What doest thou 1 

The next event selected by which to illustrate our gen- 
eral subject, is the Reformation of the sixteenth century. 
This is another of those great instrumentalities, cradled 
in the fifteenth century, which Providence employed, on 
the breaking away of the darkness of the dark ages, for 
the honor and enlargement of his church. 

"** r e should view this extraordinary event from three 
po its : Its causes and preliminary steps : The great 
transaction itself: Some of its general results. 

No attempt will be made to furnish a history of the 
Reformation, or to gauge the vast dimensions of its influ- 
ence on the world. I present it only as a magnificent 
scheme of Providence for the advancement of his church. 

1. Causes and preliminary steps. That we may have 
some just idea of the origin and real character of the Re- 
formation, we shall needs take a brief survey of the civil, 
moral and religious condition of Europe and of the 
world, previous to this notable event. 

You cannot, without astonishment, read the history of 
those times. It would seem as if man had then yielded 
up the native dignity of manhood, and consented to pros- 
titute the nobility of immortal mind to the meanest pur- 
poses of ignorance, superstition, and crime. The history 
of the dark ages may be written in a word — it was an 
intellectual thraldom. The lamp of intelligence had 
been extinguished amidst the floods of barbarism, which 
swept, wave after wave, over the Romish church and 
empire. Hence that general corruption of religion which 
disgraced the church, and made the church disgrace the 
world — hence the vile brood of superstitions which over- 



56 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

ran and spoiled the fair heritage of God, and the disgust- 
ing combinations of vice and crime which invaded the 
very temple of the church, not sparing the altar. 

Religion finds no rest in the bosom of ignorance. 
Cradle her there, and she pines and dies ; or, rather, in- 
stead of being the bird of paradise, fledged with angels' 
wings, and borne aloft with the eagle's strength, and 
plumed with a seraph's beauty, she becomes the loathsome 
reptile of superstition, without form or comeliness, with- 
out soul or spirit. 

A night of a thousand years had brooded over the 
earth. It was long and tempestuous, as if the light of 
moral day were extinguished forever, and the king of 
darkness had begun his final reign. Only here and there, 
over the wide expanse, glimmered the light of science, 
and the lamp of religion burnt but dimly amidst the gen- 
eral desolation. Despotism, religious and civil, crushed 
the energies of the immortal mind, and iniquity, like a 
flood deep and broad, submerged all Europe. Nearly all 
the learning that did exist, was confined to the clergy ; 
and yet they were so profoundly ignorant as to afford a 
subject of universal reproach and ridicule. In a council 
held in 992, it was asserted there was scarcely a person 
in Rome itself who knew the first elements of letters. In 
Spain, not one priest in a thousand could address a com- 
mon letter of salutation to a friend. In England, not a 
priest south of the Thames understood the common 
prayers, or could translate a sentence of Latin into his 
mother tongue. Learning was almost extinct. Its flick- 
ering lamp scarcely emitted a ray of light. 

And, as might be expected, this long and dreary night 
of ignorance generated a loathsome brood of supersti- 
tions. Controversies were settled by ordeal. The ac- 
cused person was made to prove his innocence by hold- 
ing, w r ith impunity, red-hot iron, or plunging the arm into 
boiling fluids, or walking, unharmed, on burning coals, or 
on red-hot plowshares. Nothing can surpass the wild fa- 
naticims of that period. To such a height did the 
phrenzy for a crusade to the Holy Land rise, that in one 
instance, (1211,) an army of ninety thousand, mostly 
children, and commanded by a child, set out from Ger- 



THE DARK AGES. 57 

many for the purpose of recovering the Holy Land from 
Infidels. Again we meet with the " Brethren of the white 
caps/' dealing out vengeance and blood, in honor of the 
peaceful Lady of Loretto. Next arises a Jehu, who 
thinks he can in no way serve God so acceptably as by 
leading an immense rabble on a crusade against the 
clergy, monasteries, and the Jews, plundering, massacre- 
ing, butchering wherever they went; and all this, of 
course, for religion's sake. And as yet more character- 
istic of those times, and of the misguided zeal of unen- 
lightened piety, rose the Flagellants. This religious con- 
tagion, not, as usual, confined to the populace, spread 
among every rank, age, and sex. Immense crowds 
marched, two by two, in procession along the streets and 
public roads, mingling groans and dolorous hymns with 
:he sounds of leathern whips, which they applied without 
nercy to their own naked backs. The Bianchi wan- 
Jered from city to city, and from province to province, 
bearing before them a huge crucifix, and with their faces 
covered and bent towards the ground, crying, "miseri- 
cordia," " miser icordia ;" and what is not to be over- 
looked in these phrenzied religionists as identifying them 
with modern fanatics, a prominent article in their creed 
was, that all who did not join their craft and act as ab- 
surdly as themselves, were branded as heretics and en- 
emies. 

The legendary tales of those days are too absurd to re- 
peat, and, to save humanity a blush, we fain hope they 
did not gain any very general credence, even in those 
degenerate times. They show how faint the light of in- 
tellect may shine, and how groveling man may become. 
I mention but one more instance, which more strikingly 
illustrates the extreme debasement into which the human 
mind had fallen, and the hopeless corruption of the 
church. I allude to indulgences. The doctrine of pen- 
ance had long been taught in the church. Salvation 
was of works. But it did not sufficiently subserve the 
interests of a mercenary priesthood, that the poor delin- 
quent should go through five, ten, or twenty years of 
penance, or submit to some barbarous austerity. An ex- 



58 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

pedient was devised, more agreeable to the penitent, 
more profitable to the priest. 

It was at length discovered that the sacrifice of Christ 
did much more than to reconcile God to man. It accu- 
mulated an inexhaustible treasury of merit in the church, 
left at the disposal of the Pope ! and that this accumula- 
tion is increased by the supererogatory merits of the 
saints, the reward of works over and above the obliga- 
tions of duty. 

It now only remained to label every sin with its price, 
and to add purgatory to the dominions of the Pope. 
Then the proclamation : — perjury, robbery, murder, in- 
cest, any thing you please ! if you will pay the price. 
Mendicants, friars, priests, bishops, now traverse the 
country, proclaiming an eternal amnesty with heaven, 
provided the Pope's coffers be filled, and his hirelings be 
well paid. Money now became the key which alone 
could open heaven and none could shut, or shut hell and 
none could open. The most scandalous sins which, ac- 
cording to the orthodoxy of more ancient Romanism, 
would have cost years of penance, might now be com- 
mitted for a few shillings. This was an improvement ol 
the thirteenth century ! 

The influence of this system on public morals cannot 
be mistaken. Virtue was scouted from the earth — at 
least she sought a hiding place in the caves and dens oi 
obscurity. And no marvel that the clergy were inde- 
cently idle, haughty, avaricious, and dissolute; and the 
common people sunk in turpitude still lower. Churches 
were filled with relics, the pulpit occupied by worthless 
priests, and the world, to all appearance, abandoned to 
the empire of sin. 

Nor was the civil condition of the world more prom- 
ising. Despotism had bound all nations fast in iron 
chains, and there was none to deliver. The Papacy in 
the west, and Moslemism in the east, had hushed to sleep 
the last throbbings of liberty. The Pope set his iron heel 
on the necks of kings, and made emperors hold his stirrup 
while he mounted his horse. The dark curtain of des- 
potism was drawn around the world; yet, during the 
long and dismal night, ever and anon a gleam of light 



THE CRUSADES. 59 

breaks above the horizon — a morning star amidst the sa- 
ble drapery of the East. Expectant piety hopes the day 
is breaking ; and knowledge, long benighted, and freedom, 
sorely oppressed, inspire the hope of speedy relief. But 
in a moment, all is overcast. A cloud, darker than be- 
fore, gathers about the eastern sky. 

The first considerable event that moved these stagnant 
waters of ignorance and sin, was the quixotic expeditions 
of European nations to the East, called the Crusades. 
To the dormant mind of Europe, these were as if a burn- 
ing mountain were cast into the sea. They produced 
some light, more smoke, and much convulsion. They 
broke the spell of slavery, which had for more than six 
centuries manacled the human mind. Here was struck 
the death blow to mental despotism — here the work of 
emancipation begun, though in its details, strength and 
beauty, it was not completed for some centuries. Now 
men begun again to launch forth on the untried ocean of 
thought; and, unskilled as they were, and unfurnished 
with chart, rudder, and compass, no wonder some foun- 
dered. But we must look upon this great drama a little 
more particularly. 

Deluded by the idea that the end of the world was 
near, and burning with enthusiasm to deliver from the 
profane tread of infidels the land where the Prince of 
Life lived, taught, suffered, and died, and where still was 
the Holy Sepulchre ; and, indignant at the recital of the 
oppressions and cruelties inflicted on Christian pilgrims, 
all Europe was roused to raise the banners of the cross, 
and march to the rescue of the holy hill of Zion, and in 
vindication of the Holy Virgin. All sorts of motives, am- 
bition, avarice, love of adventure ; the promise of exemp- 
tion from debts, taxes, and punishment for crimes ; reli- 
gious zeal and bigotry, and the confident hope of heaven, 
stirred up the people of all ranks, ages, and sexes, to embark 
their lives and fortunes in these holy expeditions. Princes 
hoped to enlarge the boundaries of their empire, and add 
new stars to their crowns ; priests and popes hoped to 
reach farther and to extend wider the arms of their 
ghostly dominion ; and all classes hoped, by some means, 
to further their own interests, or minister to their gratifi- 



60 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

cation. Six millions of souls, following the ignis-fatuus 
of an overheated imagination, were, from time to time, 
led out o( Europe to mark their pathway to the East with 
blood, or to whiten the hills and valleys of Palestine with 
their bones. 

Though visionary in the extreme, and prodigal of life 
and treasure, and unsuccessful in their professed object, 
yet. from all this confusion came order, from all this dark- 
ness, light, and from the most miserable combination of 
evil, was educed a lasting good. The fountains of the 
great deep were now broken up, the stagnations of igno- 
rance and corruption which had for centuries choked and 
poisoned all that attempted to live, and breathe, and 
move in them, began to heave and give signs of such 
coming commotion as must, ere long, purify their putrid 
waters. 

A spirit of enterprise from this time nerved the arm of 
every nation in Europe. A highway was opened to the 
nations of the East. The barbarity and ignorance of Eu- 
rope were brought into comparison with the greater in- 
telligence, wealth, and civilization of Asia. The bounda- 
ries of men's ideas were greatly enlarged. They saw in 
the advanced condition of the Orientals, the advantages 
which the arts and sciences, industry and civilization, 
give a people. In these they discovered the main spring 
of national greatness, and of social and individual com- 
fort and prosperity. They formed new commercial rela- 
tions ; acquired new ideas of agriculture — the handicrafts 
of industry were plied to minister to the new demands 
which an acquaintance with the East had created. They 
lost, too, amidst Asiatic associations, many of the super- 
stitions and prejudices which had so long kept the mind 
of Europe in bondage, and acquired new views in all the 
economy of life. And strange, if, on their return, they 
did not profit by the new T habits and information they had 
acquired. 

Here we date the early dawn of the day that should 
soon rise upon the nations. Ever and anon the darkness 
broke away, and light gleamed above the horizon. 
Learning began to revive ; colleges and universities were 
founded ; an acquaintance with the East had introduced 



REVIVAL OF LEARNING. 61 

into Europe the Greek classics, which fixed a new era in 
its literature, as well as worked wonders in the progress 
of its civilization. For the Greek language had, for cen- 
turies, been the language of history, of the arts and sci- 
ences, of civilization and religion. Philo and Josephus 
chose to embalm the chronicles of their times in the 
Grecian tongue, that they might thus speak to more of 
the world's population than in any other language. And 
when Socrates and Aristotle reasoned and wrote in their 
mother tongue, they reasoned and wrote for the civiliza- 
tion and elevation of Europe, fifteen centuries afterwards. 
And when Alexander pushed his conquests eastward, and 
settled Greek colonies near the confines of India, (in 
Bactria,) he opened the way, through Christian churches 
planted in Bactria, for the introduction of the gospel, cen- 
turies after, in Tartary and China. 

The introduction of Greek literature into Europe did 
much to draw aside the veil of the dark ages. By this 
means the society, the ethics, the improvements of an- 
cient Greece, were now disinterred from the dust of ages, 
and transmitted, reanimated and nourished on the soil of 
modern Europe. 

And what, in the history of Providence, should not be 
here overlooked, the Arabs, the determined foes of Chris- 
tianity, were used as the instruments of preserving and 
transmitting that knowledge which, finally, became the 
regenerator of Europe. They were made to subserve 
the purposes of the truth, up to a certain point, when the 
privilege was transferred to worthier hands. At the 
period of which I am speaking, it seemed altogether prob- 
able that learning and the arts, the power of knowledge 
and the press, would be transmitted to future ages 
through the followers of the false prophet. For it was 
through them that learning revived, and the inventions 
and discoveries, which so effectually wield the destinies 
of the world, were divulged. 

In less than a century after the Saracens first turned 
their hostile spears against their foreign enemies, (the 
Greeks, at the battle of Muta, in 630,) their empire ex- 
ceeded in extent the greatest monarchies of ancient 
times. The successors of the prophet were the most 

6 



G2 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

powerful and absolute sovereigns on the earth. Their 
caliphs exercised a most unlimited and undefined pre- 
rogative — reigned over numerous nations, from Gibral- 
ter to the Chinese sea, two hundred days' journey from 
east to west. And, what is no less extraordinary, within 
about the same period, after the barbarous act of Omar, 
which consigned to the flames the splendid library of 
Alexandria, (640,) the world became indebted to the Sar- 
acens in respect to literature and science — though it was 
nearly two centuries more before they attained to their 
Augustan age. 

The court of the caliph became the resort of poets, 
philosophers, and mathematicians, from every country, 
and from every creed. Literary relics of the conquered 
countries were brought to the foot of the throne — hun- 
dreds of camels were seen entering Bagdad, loaded with 
volumes of Greek, Hebrew, and Persian literature, trans- 
lated by the most skillful interpreters into the Arabic lan- 
guage. Masters, instructors, translators, commentators, 
formed the court at Bagdad. Schools, academies, and 
libraries were established in every considerable town, and 
colleges w r ere munificently endowed. It was the glory of 
every city to collect treasures of literature and science 
throughout the Moslem dominions, whether in Asia, Af- 
rica, or Europe. Grammar, eloquence and poetry were 
cultivated with great care. So were metaphysics, phi- 
losophy, political economy, geography, astronomy, and the 
natural sciences. Botany and chemistry were cultivated 
with ardor and success. The Arabs particularly excelled 
in architecture. The revenue of kingdoms were ex- 
pended in public buildings and fine arts ; painting, sculp- 
ture, and music, shared largely in their regards. And in 
nothing did they more excel than in agriculture and 
metallurgy. They were the depositories of science in the 
dark ages, and the restorers of letters to Europe. 

Had not this course of things been arrested — had not 
a mandate from the skies uttered the decree, that the 
Arabian should no longer rule in the empire of letters, how 
different would have been the destiny of our race ! In- 
stead of the full-orbed day of the Sun of Righteouness, 
casting his benignant rays on our seminaries of learning, 



POWER OP SCIENCE AND THE ARTS. 63 

they would have grown up under the pale and sickly hues 
of the crescent. The power of science and the arts, 
printing and paper-making, the mariner's compass and 
the spirit of foreign discovery, and the power of steam, 
(all Arabian in their origin,) would have been devoted to 
the propagation and establishment of Mohammedanism. 
The press had been a monopoly of the Arabian imposture ; 
and the Ganges and Euphrates, the Red sea and the Cas- 
pian, illumined only by the moon-light of Islam, would 
have been the channels through which the world's com- 
merce would have flowed into Mohammedan emporiums. 

But He that controlleth all events, would not have it so. 
These mighty engines of reformation and advancement 
should nerve the arm of truth; the press be the hand- 
maid of Christianity, to establish and embalm its doc- 
trines and precepts on the enduring page ; and the con- 
trol which men should gain over the elements, to facili- 
tate labor, contract distances, and bring out the resources 
of nature, be the handmaid of the Cross. Otherwise, 
Christianity had been the twin sister of barbarism ; and 
Moslemism and Idolatry had been nurtured under the fa- 
voring influences of learning, civilization, and the art of 
printing. It is worthy of remark, that the press, up to 
the present day, has been confined almost exclusively 
within the precincts of Christianity. 

And not only has Providence so interposed as to con- 
sign to the hands of civilization and Christianity, almost 
the exclusive monopoly of the press, but, under the gui- 
dance of the same unerring Wisdom, the future literature, 
as well as the society and government of the Gentile 
nations, is likely to descend to them through the purest 
Christianity. While science and literature are cultivated 
and honored by Christian nations, they are stationary or 
retrograde among Pagans and Mohammedans. This is 
giving Christianity immense advantages. For nearly the 
entire supply of books, schools, and the means of educa- 
tion, are furnished through Christian missions. Almost 
the only book of the convert from heathenism, is the 
Bible, or a religious book. Who but the Christian mis- 
sionary, form alphabets, construct grammars and diction- 
aries for Pagan nations, and thus form the basis of their 



64 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

literature, and guide their untutored minds in all matters 
oi' education, government and religion ? In these things, 
how admirable the orderings of Providence. Christianity 
at once takes possession of the strong holds of society, 
and gives promise of permanency. For there is all the 
difference of civilization and barbarism, of religion and infi- 
delity, in the kind of literature a people have. If sup- 
plied by the enlightened mind, the pure heart, and the 
liberal hand of Christianity, it will be as a fountain of 
living waters. 

Another providential feature of the period now under 
review, was a spi?it of bold inquiry. 

As the time for the world's emancipation from the 
thraldom of the dark ages drew near, there was a singu- 
lar boldness for overstepping the wonted boundaries of 
thought. Ignorance and superstition had so narrowed 
the compass of men's ideas, that it had become a crime, 
— at least a heresy, for one to think further than his fa- 
thers had done. It is exceedingly interesting to trace the 
progress of the human mind from the eleventh to the six- 
teenth century. The inundation of the Roman empire, by 
northern barbarians, as completely extinguished the lamp 
of learning, as the light of religion. The dark ages were 
the winter season of the human mind. Though not 
annihilated, its activities were repressed, and it lay in a 
torpid state, awaiting its resuscitation on the return of 
spring. There seemed written on the furled banners of 
the returning crusaders, " Lo, the winter is past." Mind 
was uncaged. The holy wars had given to its domains 
an enchanting extension. The social sphere was en- 
larged, and, on every side, an opening field for all sorts 
of activity. 

Mind was now roused from its long sleep. Popery 
and despotism could not much longer enslave it. There 
now arose, for the carrying out of providential schemes, 
great and glorious, a class of bold thinkers, who quailed 
not before the thunders of the Vatican, nor recoiled to 
investigate maxims, doctrines or practices, because ven- 
erable for age, or disdained truth, because fresh with nov- 
elty. 

Years before Columbus launched his adventurous bark 



SPIRIT OF BOLD INQUIRY. 65 

on the pathless Atlantic, or Martin Luther shook the 
foundations of Rome, there was a rousing up of the dor- 
mant mind of Europe, and a bold demand for truth. 
Fiction, romance, legends of saints, cloisters and ghosts 
could no longer suffice. Schools of learning, — the minds 
of the first scholars in Christendom were seized with an 
unwonted mania for investigation. And not only the 
universities and chief seminaries of learning, but the 
same spirit had crept into tribunals of justice, and halls 
of legislation, had looked into the windows of palaces, 
and seized on the minds of nobles and princes. Not only 
divines of the most profound erudition, but philosophers 
and eminent scholars of noble blood, as Reuchlin and 
Ulrich de Hutten, employed all their learning and wit to 
free the church and the world from the bondage of igno- 
rance and superstition. 

And, as coeval and co-extensive with this spirit of inqui- 
ry, Providence created an unaccountable spirit for bold 
adventure, which equally presaged some notable revolu- 
tion near. The flames of a restless ambition burned. 
There was an irrepressible desire of enterprise. The bold 
and adventurous spirit of Columbus, of the Cabots, of 
Amerigo Vespucci, of Charles V., Francis I., Henry VIIL, 
Leo X., was widely diffused through Europe. Spain, 
Portugal, Genoa, France and England, were struggling, 
who should first whiten an unknown sea with their can- 
vas, or reach farthest the arms of conquest. Dor- 
mant energies were aroused. Discovery was the mania 
of the day. And no wonder that an expectation, border- 
ing on certainty, was entertained, that some great change 
was at hand. 

Nor were the movements of Providence less conspic- 
uous at this time, on the great political arena. The wide 
domains of Christendom were crushed beneath the foot 
of the Pope. But the decree had gone out that the power 
of despotism should be broken. 

Modern liberty, paradoxical as it may seem, is the off- 
spring of Feudalism. As a strange, yet comely vine, it 
sprung up and grew for a time in the rugged villas of 
feudal barons. The process was this : The feudal 
system broke into pieces the before unbroken empire of 

6* 



66 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

despotism ; and though the feudal lords were despots 
in their little domains, yet each clan or tribe was inde- 
pendent one of another, and the germ of a half-civilized, 
halt- barbarous liberty, was all this time taking root in a 
rugged soil, ready to be , transplanted where it should 
grow more stately and gracefully, and bear a better and 
more abundant fruit. When this tree, or rather shrub, 
had flourished as long as it could on feudal ground, the 
Hand that ever protects all on earth, which pleases Him, 
broke down the system that first gave it birth, yet saved 
his chosen plant from the common ruin. 

The crusades struck the death-blow to the feudal sys- 
tem, and opened the way in Europe for the successful 
struggle of Liberty. This was the grand transition state 
from Despotism to Monarchy. 

In England, Liberty, long oppressed and abused, rose 
amidst the troubled waters of King John's tyranny, and 
they called her Magna Charta, — the keystone of Eng- 
lish liberty, the bulwark of constitutional law. This no- 
ble monument of indignant popular freedom against 
royal usurpation, bears date 1215. 

Next, the light of smothered liberty is seen gleaming 
up over the sable empire of Spain. It rises in Arragon 
as early as 1283. An instrument called the " General 
Privilege/' is granted by Peter III., in response to the pop- 
ular clamor for liberty, containing a series of provisions 
against arbitrary power, more full and satisfactory, as a 
basis of liberty, than the great Charter of England. And 
had we time to trace the connection, we might institute 
the inquiry, how far might this rising genius of liberty 
in Arragon have infused its spirit into Columbus and 
his adventurous cotemporaries, and induced the patronage 
he received from the throne ? Or what connection had 
this with the conquest of Grenada, and the expulsion of 
the Moors ? Or with the discovery of the great East by 
the Cape of Good Hope ? — three nearly simultaneous 
events, and each big with the destiny of the Church and 
the world. 

The same leaven is at work in Germany. The Empe- 
ror becomes elective ; checks are imposed on his power ; 
all matters of moment are referred to the States Gen- 



DISTRIBUTION OF POLITICAL POWER. 67 

eral. Switzerland achieves her freedom in the beginning 
of the fourteenth century. Indeed, "free cities/' small re- 
publics, spring up in all parts of Europe, and, as in the early 
ages of mankind, the world was indebted to cities for 
civilization and political institutions, so again modern 
liberty was cradled m the bosom of the free cities of 
Europe. "It was not the monarchies, it was not the 
courts of the great princes, — it was the cities of north- 
ern Italy, which opened the way for the progress of 
improvement, and lighted the torch of modern civiliza- 
tion/' 

Thus was Providence politically shaping the world for 
the reception of Christianity, under the renovated form 
of the Reformation. 

And here we must not overlook the singular distribu- 
tion of political power, at the time of the Reformation. 
That the power might appear of God, and not of man, 
Providence gave this to four of the mightiest monarchs 
that ever wielded a sceptre. Henry VIIL, was on the 
throne of England ; Francis L, on that of France ; 
Charles V., Emperor of the kingdoms of Germany and 
Spain ; and Pope Leo X., the most powerful, politic and 
sagacious of the Popes, occupied the chair of St. Peter, 
and reached his sceptre over all the monarchs of Europe. 
But God employed none of them. And when they would 
have pounced upon, and torn to pieces the Daniel of 
Heaven's election, God shut the mouths of these lions, 
that they should not harm a hair of his head. 

But I pursue the subject no further at present. Let 
us pause and reflect; and we shall review this great 
transaction with increased admiration of the power and 
wisdom of God. In carrying out his vast plans, all the 
inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing before him ; 
he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, 
and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can 
stay his hand, or say unto him, what doest thou ? Who, 
then, would not fear thee, O God ? Who would not 
adore thee in the temple of thy power, and revere thee 
in thy matchless wisdom, and praise thee in thy un- 
speakable goodness ? How much reason has the saint 
to rejoice ! Standing on the eternal rock, he is safe. 



G8 HAND OP GOD IN HISTORY 

How much reason has the sinner to tremble ! He 
stands, he trifles beneath the rock that shall grind him to 
powder. 

" Be wise to-day, 'tis madness to defer." 



CHAPTER IV. 

The Reformation. Europe clamors for reform. Causes. Abuses. Boniface VHI, 
The Great Schism. Infallibility. Bad moral character of Popes— Alexander VI. Leo 
X. Elector of Saxony. Early Reformers. Waldenses— Nestorians. The Reforma- 
tion a necessary effect — a child of Providence. Martin Luther ; his origin, early ed- 
ucation, history. Finds the Bible. His conversion. Luther the preacher— the Theo- 
logical Professor— at Rome. " Pilate's staircase." Compelled to be a Reformer. 
His coadjutors. Opposition. Results. 

u All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing" 

The last chapter closed while yet speaking of the causes 
of the Reformation of the sixteenth century. These 
causes were numerous and multifarious. The crusades 
had broken up the stagnations of despotism — learning 
had revived — the art of printing was discovered — an ad- 
venturous spirit of discovery and conquest was abroad ; 
the science of navigation, made abundantly practical by 
the invention of the mariner's compass, brought the na- 
tions of the earth into neighborhood and acquaintance. 
There was, too, a bold spirit of inquiry among philoso- 
phers, divines, and every class of the literati, which de- 
manded reform. The inspiration of poetry breathed it. 
The spirit of the age boldly demanded immortal mind 
should be free. Mind is like the irrepressible spirit of 
liberty. You cannot chain it ; you cannot imprison it. 
Though for a time it may be reserved in chains of dark- 
ness, the day of emancipation must come, hastened on 
by the very galling of its chains, and the gloominess of its 
prison. 

The Reformation has been very justly denominated " a 
vast effort of the human mind to achieve its freedom. 



CAUSES OF THE REFORMATION. 69 

Though its religious bearings were immense on the des- 
tinies of the world, it was more than a religious reform. 
It was an intellectual revolution. 

The most shameful abuses in the church, the degene- 
racy of the clergy not excepting popes, and the abused 
common-sense of the people, clamored for reform. The 
long repressed spirit of liberty, smothered beneath the 
rubbish of ignorance and superstition, yet now beginning 
to labor in her dark caverns, and to make all Europe 
heave, fearfully demanded, by her oft-repeated irruptions, 
that the foot of Rome should no longer crush the world. 
Causes were at work which made the Reformation neces- 
sary as an effect. The world was prepared for it. Ex- 
pectation was on the alert. The profoundest talents of 
the age were laboring to produce it. Suppressed, exiled, 
outraged piety began to emerge from her hiding places, 
to rise in the strength and beauty of her own dignity, and 
with a holy indignation to assert, and, in the name of 
Heaven, to demand, freedom for the sons of God. So 
clamorous, indeed, had Europe become for reform, that 
the pope, the clergy and a corrupt church were con- 
strained to acknowledge its necessity. Accordingly, the 
Council of Constance, assembled by the emperor, (1414,) 
attempted to lop off some of the monstrous excrescences 
of the church. Yet this same council consigned to the 
flames John Huss, the pious and learned reformer, of Bo- 
hemia. Though frustrated in the attempt at ecclesias- 
tical reformation, and deadly opposed to the popular re- 
form of Wicklif, Huss and Jerome, and though reform 
was re-attempted with no better success seventeen years 
later, in the Council of Basle, yet much was gained to the 
general cause of liberty and religion. The necessity and 
feasibility of reform had been freely discussed in the high 
places of the church and of the empire, and though op- 
posed and ostensibly arrested by the strong arm of Rome, 
facts were revealed, abuses exposed, principles established, 
which emboldened the potentates of Europe to proclaim 
against the usurpations of the Vatican. In France and 
Germany the famous Pragmatic Sanction of 1438 was 
made a law of the state, authorizing the election of Bish- 
ops, and the reform of the principal abuses of the church. 



70 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

But, in further (racing out providential arrangements 
as at work, ecclesiastically > in bringing affairs to the de- 
sired crisis, we must go back a little. 

The remarkable fourteenth century, signalized as the 
generator of new ideas, new schemes and activities, opened 
in the darkest days of the Papal church. The " mystery 
of iniquity" was now consummated — Popery had found 
its acme. Boniface VIII. now occupied the papal chair. 
In arrogance, in spiritual pride, oppression and blasphemy, 
he was surpassed by none who had preceded him. He 
claimed that, as "vicar of Jesus Christ, he had power to 
govern kings with a rod of iron, and to dash them in 
pieces as a potter's vessel." Though he exalted himself 
above all that is called God, and spoke great swelling 
words of vanity, yet his end was nigh, and his judgment 
did not tarry. Taken prisoner by an emmissary of 
France, and treated with indignity and rudeness, he dies 
in the extremity of his rage and mortification. Says the 
historian, (Sismondi,) " His eyes were haggard ; his mouth 
white with foam ; he gnashed his teeth in silence. He 
passed the day without nourishment, and the night with- 
out repose ; and when he found that his strength was fail- 
ing, and his end was nigh, he removed all his attendants, 
that there might be no witness to his final feebleness and 
parting struggle. After some interval, his domestics burst 
into the room, and beheld his body stretched on the bed, 
stiff and cold. The staff which he carried bore the marks 
of his teeth, and was covered with foam ; his white locks 
were stained with blood ; and his head was so closely 
wrapped in the counterpane, that he was believed to have 
anticipated his impending death by violence and suffo- 
cation." 

Thus died the pretended vicegerent of God, the pattern 
of saints, the Head of the Church, and the almoner of 
Heaven's righteousness to dying men. 

From this hour the strong arm of Popery was weak- 
ened. The power of the church was much diminished 
by the removal of the Popedom from Rome to Avignon 
in France, and still more by the " Great Schism of the 
West," which occurred in 1378, and continued half a 
century. There were now two rival popes, and at one 



MORAL CHARACTER OF THE CLERGY. 71 

time three, " assailing each other with excommunications, 
maledictions and all sorts of hostile measures" — not a little 
impairing their respective claims to infallibility, bringing 
into disrepute their ghostly characters, and effectually 
preparing the way for the abolition of their spiritual usur- 
pation. 

These things, together with the bad moral character of 
the clergy, from the Pope to the most beggarly mendi- 
cant — their affluence, avarice and luxury, had prepared 
the minds of the people to embrace the first opportunity 
to throw off the yoke of Rome. This consummation was 
rapidly hastened by the disgusting profligacy of Alexan- 
der VI. and the restless ambition and cruelty of Julius II. 
History rarely affords a specimen of so worthless a char- 
acter as that of Pope Alexander. His youth was spent 
in profligacy and crime ; he obtained the pontifical chair 
by the most shameless bribery ; his palace, while Pope, was 
disgraced by family feuds and bloodshed ; by bachanalian 
entertainments and licentious revelry ; by farces and in- 
decent songs ; and his death was compassed by the poison 
which he had prepared for one of his rich cardinals. 
Such was the Pope in 1492, on the very eve of the Refor- 
mation. 

Stations of dignity and trust were filled by men raised 
from obscurity and ignorance ; or by sons of noblemen, 
and not unfrequently by mere children. A child of five 
years old was made Archbishop of Rheims, and the see 
of Narbonne was purchased for a boy of ten years. Nor 
was the papal chair itself exempt from the same disgrace- 
ful sacrilege. Rome was one vast scene of debauchery, 
in which the most powerful families in Italy contended 
for the pre-eminence. Benedict IX. was a boy brought 
up in profligacy — was made Pope at twelve years old, and 
remained in the practice of the scandalous sins of his 
youth. 

Such abuses, crimes and usurpations, such despotism 
and corruption at the fountain head of the church, roused 
the indignation of princes and people not yet sunk below 
where the voice of a virtuous indignation reaches, and 
hastened on the Reformation. And mitred heads, and 
fulminating bulls, and all the array of the Scarlet Beast 



72 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

could not silence the clamor. God was in it, confound- 
ing the wisdom of the wise, and giving understanding to 
babes. 

It has not failed to arrest the attention of historians 
that Leo X., though a man of consummate skill and policy 
in the management of public affairs, prompt, energetic, 
provident ; yet, in reference to Luther and the rising 
Reformation, he seemed bereft of his wisdom and accus- 
tomed energy, while they who were undermining his 
throne, and plucking the ghostly crown from his head, 
were endued with uncommon sagacity. In his attempts 
to crush Luther, and suppress the Reformation, nothing is 
so prominent as his hesitation, delays and mistakes. In 
the mean time the good WDrk was gaining ground ; the 
host of the Reformed ±~eceiving daily accessions ; the ball 
set in motion by an unseen Hand had gathered a power 
and velocity which kings and popes could not arrest. 

Here I would just notice another providence : it is the 
raising up and rightly disposing the heart of the Elector 
of Saxony. God fitted and used this noble prince for two 
great purposes : first, he gave him a controlling influence 
among the electors of the Emperor, which the Pope, 
deeply interested as he was in the election, could not af- 
ford to lose ; as he would, should he displease the Elector, 
" by proclaiming his bull of excommunication against Lu- 
ther : and, secondly, God gave his servant Luther a safe 
shelter beneath the wings of this excellent Prince. 

But there were other causes of the Reformation. We 
return, that we may again approach the great phenome- 
non of the sixteenth century through another series of 
providential arrangements. 

Dark as the dark ages were, the lamp of truth and pure 
religion was never suffered to be extinguished. Indeed, 
from the earliest corruptions of Christianity, God has not 
left himself without a succession of witnesses. In the 
sixth century lived Vigilantius, the vehement remon- 
strant against relics, the invocation of saints, lighted can- 
dles in churches, vows of celibacy, pilgrimages, nocturnal 
watchings, fastings, prayers for the dead, and all the mum- 
meries which had at that early period crept into the 
church. In the ninth century, Claudius, the pious Bishop 



EARLY REFORMERS. 73 

of Turin, called the first Protestant Reformer, bore a noble 
testimony to the truth. Peter of Bruges, Henry of Lau- 
sanne, and Arnold of Brescia, raised their voices amidst 
the general corruption, and in various ways and with va- 
rious success pleaded for reform. # So did also the learned 
and fearless Bishop of Lincoln, Greathead, in the thirteenth 
century, and the excellent Thomas Bradwardine, Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, and the noble Fitzralph, Archbishop 
of Armagh, whose light from time to time made visible the 
surrounding darkness. Nor may we pass unnoticed a 
noble band of confessors and witnesses for the truth, 
among whom we find the indefatigable Peter Pruys, Henry 
the Italian, Marsilius of Padua, John of Garduno, who 
was condemned by the Pope, 1330, and the learned, 
dauntless and persecuted Barengarius, who, after having 
withstood the storm of papal rage to a good old age, closed 
his testimony in 1088. These were some of the lights 
which shone amidst the darkness of the middle ages, and 
by which an ever watchful Providence preserved his truth 
from the general ruin.f- 

These, however, were but the casual outbreakings of 
pent up fires that should soon burst out and burn with an 
unquenchable flame. These were the lesser lights — the 
precursors of the approaching morning. At length the 
morning star arose. Wicklif appeared ; the arm of 
Providence, to pave the way for a glorious onward march 
of the work of redemption ; guilty of daring to think out 
of the beaten track of the dark ages ; guilty of question- 
ing the arrogant claims of a haughty, avaricious, corrupt 
priesthood, and guilty of publishing to the world the living 
oracles of God, and teaching the people their right and 
duty to read them. By his writings and lectures in the 
University of Oxford ; by his public instructions as 
pastor at Lutterworth, and his translation of the Scrip- 
tures for the first time into English, he laid an immovable 

• The fiery zeal of Arnold knew no bounds till he had carried the war of reform into 
Rome itself, and kindled a fire in the very seat of St. Peter, but which in its turn kin- 
dled a fire about him, in which he perished, and his party (the Arnoldists,) was sup- 
pressed. 

t The following are some of the sects, or Christian communities which stood up for 
the truth when the whole world had gone wandering after the Beast : The Novitians, 
Donatists, Paulicians, Cathari, Puritans, WcUdenses, Petrobrusians, Henricians, Ar- 
noldists, Paterines, in Italy. 

7 



74 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

foundation for the reform of the church. The leaven so 
effectually wrought in the University, as to merit the 
charge 01 heresy from Archbishop Arundel : " Oxford/' 
says he, " is a vine that bringeth forth wild and sour grapes, 
which being eaten by the fathers, the children's teeth are 
set on edge ; so that the whole province of Canterbury is 
tainted with a novel and damnable heresy :" an honora- 
ble testimony to the fidelity and influence of Wicklif. 
He had many zealous friends among the nobility, and 
even in the royal family ; which no doubt served as a 
shield to ward off the fiery darts of papal vengeance, and 
left our reformer to die a quiet death in the retirement 
of Lutterworth. 

The impression produced by Wicklif s character and 
labors, was tremendous on all ranks and ages. It was as 
the letting out of many waters. Mountains could not 
hedge it in, seas could not limit it. No sooner was this 
new light extinguished by popish virulence in England, 
than it begun to burn with redoubled splendor in Bohemia 
on the continent. Europe caught the light, and the 
cloud that had so long hung over Christendom began 
to scatter. 

And here again mark the finger of Providence : Queen 
Anne, the wife of Richard II., of England, a native of 
Bohemia, having herself embraced the doctrines of 
Wicklif, became, through her attendants, the instrument 
of circulating the books of the reformer in Bohemia. 
Who can doubt " whether she did not come to the king- 
dom for such a time as this." God called her to the 
throne of England, that, having learned the truth there, 
she might introduce it, with a royal sanction, in her own 
native land. Huss and Jerome of Prague, by this means 
caught the fire of the English reformer, raised the ban- 
ners of reformation, and ceased not, till a glorious mar- 
tyrdom put out their lamp, to devote their great learning 
and their immense influence in defence of abused truth. 

The execution of Huss as a heretic, furnishes a just 
though melancholy picture of the times of these early 
reformers. John Huss was Professor of Divinity in the 
University of Prague, and pastor of the church in that 
city ; a man as renowned for the purity and excellency 



BURNING OF HUSS. 75 

of his Christian character, as for his profound learning 
and uncommon eloquence. But his light shone too bright 
for the age. He was charged with heresy ; arrested, 
thrown into prison — condemned to the stake. At the 
place of execution he was treated with the most barbarous 
indignity. Seven Bishops strip him of his sacerdotal 
dress — violently tear from him the insignia of his office — 
put on his head a cap on which three devils were painted, 
and the words arch-heretic written — burn his books before 
his eyes. In the meantime the fires of death are kindled. 
The undaunted martyr commends his spirit to Jesus, and, 
serene and joyful in the prospect of a glorious immortality, 
his happy spirit rises from the flames of wicked foes to 
the bosom of flaming seraphim, who adore and burn in 
the presence of the eternal throne. 

But this was not enough : with savage fury his execu- 
tioners beat down the stake, and demolished with clubs 
and pokers all that remained of his half consumed body. 
His heart, untouched by the fire, they roast on a spit, 
and his cloak and other garments are also committed to 
the flames, that not a memento might remain to his 
friends. Yea, more, they not only remove the ashes, but 
they scoop out the earth where he was burnt, to the depth 
of four feet, and throw the whole into the Rhine. But 
they could not extinguish the light of the Reformation. 

From this new starting point the wheels of Providence 
gathered strength, and rolled on the more rapidly as they 
approached the goal. From the flames that consumed 
these martyrs to the truth, there rose a light which shone 
throughout all Germany. A spirit of inquiry was roused 
in schools and universities, in the minds of the common 
people and among the nobility, which could not be 
repressed. Though often smothered in blood, it gathered 
strength — the surface heaved, the internal fires burned 
till the irruption came. 

But I shall do palpable injustice not to notice some 
whole communities which, during Zion's long and dreary 
night, kept their fires burning and their lamps trimmed, 
ready to meet the returning bridegroom. They were 
found among the mountains of the Alps ; in the valleys 
of Peidmont and Languedock ; in England, and over a 



76 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

great part of Europe — known by the generic name of 
Lollards, vet denominated Waldenses, Albigenses, Cathari, 
Huguenots, from the valleys in which they resided, or 
from some distinguished leader. They had not bowed 
the knee to Baal — had endured persecutions such as 
make humanity blush — had trial of cruel mockings and 
scourgings — of bonds and imprisonments — were stoned, 
sawn asunder — tempted — slain — wandered about in sheep 
skins and goat skins, afflicted and tormented. They 
wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves 
of the earth. Since the scenes which transpired on 
Calvary 1800 years ago, there has not been written so 
black a page of man's history. Yet their light shone, and 
guided many an earth- worn pilgrim heavenward. And 
when the morning dawned — when the strong voice of 
Wicklif, repeating but in louder notes the strains of 
Claudius, Bradwardine, and Berenger, proclaimed the 
approaching day — and the louder, and yet louder peals 
of Huss and Jerome, Reuchlin and Hutten, broke in upon 
the stillness of the night, these pious souls, (of whom the 
w r orld was not worthy,) these dwellers in the rocks and 
caves of the earth were watching every prognostication 
of the morning, and joyfully hailed the rising light. And 
no sooner were the banners of the Reformation unfurled, 
than they, as tried and loyal subjects, came to the help of 
the Lord. 

And during the same period, and for centuries since, 
the Nestorians have borne witness to the truth, and kept 
alive the fire of true religion in the East, in circumstances 
not very dissimilar from the Waldenses of the West. 
When dark clouds settled down on the whole land, there 
was light in Goshen — light amid the mountains of Kurdis- 
tan. And as now light returns upon the dark regions 
of Asia, do we not find them as ready to welcome the 
rising morning as were the dwellers among the Alps ? 
The church has already been vastly indebted to the Nes- 
torians in the work of propagating the gospel. Never 
has she had more valiant and successful Missionaries, 
and that, too, under circumstances the most unpropitious. 
Their missions form the connecting link between the 
missions of primitive Christianity and modern missions. 



TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE. 77 

In the dark ages, (from the sixth to the fifteenth century,) 
we find their indefatigable missionaries among the rude, 
migratory tribes of Tartary, among the priest-ridden mill- 
ions of India, and the supercilious natives of China. We 
find them, too, among the barbarous nations about the 
Caspian sea. In the tenth century, a Mogul Prince and 
200,000 of his subjects, were converted to Christianity. 
Their Prince was the celebrated Prester John. In 877, 
they had erected churches in all eastern Asia. 

But without pursuing this line of providential develop- 
ment further, what presage have we here that Zion's King 
was about to introduce a new dispensation of his grace ! 
He had fitted a thousand minds for the accomplishment 
of his purposes. Kings, emperors, councils, the literati, 
philosophers, poets, the church herself, all in their turn 
attempted a reform, and failed. Yet each did a work, 
and hastened a result. It was written in the records of 
Heaven that this should not be done by " might nor by 
power." The noble, the wise and mighty, should be set at 
nought — Goliath be overcome by the shepherd and his 
sling. The Bible should be the weapon by which to 
overcome the principalities and powers of sin, to demolish 
the strong-holds of the adversary, and to dislodge from 
their high places the unclean birds of the sanctuary : the 
Bible be the regenerator of the living temple, which 
should rebuild the sacred altar, and restore its fine gold. 
Hence the towering genius of Reuchlin, (the patron and 
teacher of the great Melancthon,) and the masterly mind 
of Erasmus, were now, by the hand of Providence, 
brought on the stage, the one to give Europe a transla- 
tion of the Old Testament, and the other of the New ; 
and both to employ their profound learning in defence of 
the truth. 

The sagacious eye of the world's wisdom could not but 
have seen that mighty events were struggling in the 
womb of Providence. The Reformation was a necessary 
consequence of what preceded. Internal fires were burn- 
ing, the earth heaving, and soon they must find vent. 
Had not the irruption been in Germany, it must soon 
have been elsewhere. Had not Luther led, it must ere 

long have been conducted by another. 

7# 



78 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

Thus did the mighty hand of God order every circum- 
stance — remove obstacles, provide instrumentalities for 
the work, displaying in all the different series of events 
which preceded the Reformation, and which, under God, 
were the causes of it, the stately steppings of Providence 
towards some magnificent result. Let us, therefore, 
briefly survey, 

2. The great transaction itself. The Reformation was 
a great event — an event of great men, of great things and 
great results ; and the more closely it is scrutinized, the 
more it will appear to be the work of God. It is not my 
design to speak of the Reformation as a matter of History, 
but as a child of Providence. Were we to trace it in its 
progress, as we have in its preliminary steps, we should 
everywhere discern the finger of God. I shall rather 
speak of certain characteristic acts of the great drama, 
than of the drama itself. The whole is too large a field. 

From whatever point you view the Reformation, you 
find it the child of Providence. Look at the men who 
were called to be its conductors ; or to the formidable 
opposition it had to encounter ; or to its results, and you 
everywhere trace the footsteps of God. 

When God is about to do a great work he first pre- 
ares his instruments. He selects and qualifies the men 
y whom he will accomplish his purposes. So he did, as 
we have seen, when he was about to enlarge the bounda- 
ries of his church by adding to its domains the American 
continent. The bold spirit of adventure which charac- 
terized the latter part of the fifteenth century, was an elec- 
tric shock to all Europe — as if an earthquake had shaken 
the world, and raised from the midst of the ocean a great 
continent. Hence such men as Columbus, the Cabots, 
Gaspar Cortereal and Verrazzani. So, when He would 
cut the eo/d that bound this infant nation to her mother, 
and wean her from her mother's milk, and remove her 
from the tuition of aristocrats and church dignitaries, 
God raised up for the purpose such men as Franklin, 
Hancock, Lee, Adams and Jefferson, and nerved the 
arm of our immortal Washington. And so it has been 
in all the great outbreakings that have convulsed the 



£ 



LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 79 

world to make way for the church. He prepared his 
instruments. 

It has been observed that great men appear in constella- 
tions. The truth is, they appear when, in providence, 
great occasions call for them. Great men are not only 
made by the times, but are endowed and moulded by the 
hand of God for the times. But nowhere do we find so 
marked a providence in the preparation of instruments as 
in the case of the Reformation. The leaders were all 
mighty men. Each was a host. Yet of all these 
mighties, Martin Luther was the mightiest. 

But whence these giants, who, if they raise their voice, 
the earth trembleth — who shake the seven hills of Rome, 
and on their ruins rear a superstructure which reached to 
the heavens ? Were they the scions of royalty — the sons 
of wisdom or of might ? No. Martin Luther was taken 
from the cottage of a poor miner. Melancthon, the pro- 
found theologian and elegant scholar of the Reformation, 
was found in an armorer's workshop. Zuinglius was 
sought out by Him who knoweth the path which " the 
vulture's eye hath not seen," in a shepherd's hut among 
the Alps. 

The history of Martin Luther is substantially the 
history of the Reformation. Would we come at once at 
the real genius of that great revolution, we must follow 
up the history of its controlling genius, from the time 
that little Martin was gathering sticks with his poor 
mother at the mines in Mansfeld, till he occupied the 
chair of Theology at Wittemburg, and was the most 
powerful and popular preacher of the day; or till he 
faced, single-handed and alone, the ravening beast of 
Rome at the Diet of Worms. Such as God made the 
instrument, such was the work. 

Though pinchingly poor, John Luther, the wood- 
cutter and the miner, resolved to educate young Martin. 
Thence forward mark his course. First, he was submitted 
to strict discipline and religious instruction under the 
roof of his parents. How much he was indebted to this, 
and how much the world, is not difficult to conceive. 
At an early age he is sent to school in the neighborhood 
of the mines. A new light had already broken in upon 



80 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

the world, and the honest miner of Mansfeld determined 
that his son should share in its benefits. At the age of 
fourteen, we find him at the school of the Franciscans at 
Magdeburg, yet so poor that he was obliged to occupy 
his play-hours in begging his bread by singing. Here 
he first heard Andrew Proles with great zeal, preaching 
the necessity of reforming religion and the church. 
Next he is at Eisenach, still poor, yet persevering, and 
notwithstanding these, to common minds, insuperable 
difficulties, our young reformer made rapid strides in his 
studies, outstripping all his fellows. 

We come now to the second link of the providential 
chain : While begging his bread as a singing boy at Eise- 
nach, he was often overwhelmed with grief, and ready to 
despond. " One day in particular, after having been 
repulsed from three houses, he was about to return fasting 
to his lodging, when, having reached the Place St. George, 
he stood before the house of an honest burgher, motion- 
less, and lost in painful reflections. Must he for the want 
of bread give up his studies, and return to the mines of 
Mansfeld ?" Suddenly a door opens, a woman appears 
on the threshhold — it is the wife of Conrad Cotta, called 
" the pious Shunamite" of Eisenach. Touched with the 
pitiless condition of the boy, she henceforth becomes his 
patroness, his guardian angel, and from this time the 
darkness from his horizon began to clear away. Soon we 
find him a distinguished scholar in the University of 
Erfurth, his genius universally admired, his progress in 
knowledge wonderful. It now began to be predicted of 
him that he would one day shake the world. The hon- 
ors of the University thicken upon him. He applies 
himself to the study of the law, where he aspires to the 
highest honors of civic life. But God willed not so. He 
is one day in the Library of the University, where he is 
wont to spend his leisure moments. As he opens volume 
after volume, a strange book at length attracts his atten- 
tion. Though he had been two years in the University, 
and was now tw T enty years old, he had seen nothing like 
it before. It is the Bible. He reads and reads again, and 
would give a world for a Bible. Here is the third link. 



martin luther's early life. 81 

Here lay hid the spark that should electrify the world — 
the golden egg of the Reformation. 

But where next do we find our distinguished scholar — 
our doctor of philosophy — our humble reader of the 
Bible ? Strange contrast ! He is an Augustine monk, 
cloistered in gloomy walls ; the companion of idle monks ; 
doorkeeper, sweeper, common servant and beggar for 
the cloister. But what brought him here ? He had read 
the Bible — was bowed to the ground as a sinner — and 
while in this state of mind he was literally smitten to the 
earth by a thunderbolt. This was the fourth link of the 
providential chain. 

From this hour he resolved to be God's. But how 
could he serve God but in a cloister ? The world was no 
place for him. He must be holy ; he will therefore work 
out his salvation in the menial services and solitude of 
monastic life. But the hand of God was in this. It was 
the school of Providence to discipline him for his future 
work. Here, too, he must learn the great lesson (justifi- 
cation by faith) which should revolutionize the church 
and the world ; here receive the sword that should de- 
molish the mighty fabric of Romish superstition, and 
separate from the chaotic mass of a corrupt religion, the 
church reformed. And where, in accordance with the 
genius of the age, could this be learned but in a convent ? 
From his youth up, Luther had believed in the power of 
monastic life to change the heart He must, as he bitterly 
did, learn its entire inefficacy. 

When he had learned this, when he was slain by the 
law, and lay, as supposed, literally dead upon the floor, a 
good " Annanias" appeared to raise him up and to con- 
duct him to the peace-speaking blood of Jesus, and, in 
Christ's stead, to tell him what he must do. This messen- 
ger is Staupitz, the vicar-general, who from this time 
becomes Luther's teacher in holiness, and his guide and 
patron in his glorious career of reform. This is the next 
link in the chain. Staupitz conducted him to Christ ; 
gave him a Bible ; introduced him to a professor's chair 
in the University of Wittemburg, and to the friendship 
of the Elector of Saxony, and brought out the reluctant 
Monk as a public preacher ; and, in a word, was the hand 



82 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

of Providence to conduct Luther forward to the great 
result of the Reformation. 

Nor was it enough that Luther should serve a three 
years' apprenticeship in a convent. He must go to Rome 
— must trace up the corrupt stream to its fountain — must 
see what Romanism is at the seat of the Beast. His em- 
bassy to Rome was the next great providential movement 
which marked the early life of Luther. Here he beheld 
with his own eyes, the abominations of desolation stand- 
ing in the place where they ought not. Though he had 
more than suspected the corruption of the church, he still 
retained a profound veneration for Rome. He thought 
of Rome as the seat of all holiness ; the deep and broad 
well from which were drawn all the waters of salvation. 
Nothing but personal observation could cure him of this 
error. He found Rome the seat of abominations, the 
fountain of moral corruption. The profligacy, levity, 
idleness, and luxury of the priests, shocked him. He 
turned away from Rome in utter disgust and indignation. 
Nor was this all he learnt at Rome. It was here God 
instructed him more thoroughly in the perfect way. 
While performing some of the severe penances of the 
church, (as, for example, creeping on his knees up " Pi- 
late's staircase/') he had a, practical lesson of the inefficacy 
of works ; and the doctrine of justification by faith, 
seemed revealed to him as in a voice of thunder. And 
now was he prepared, on his return, to echo this voice 
from heaven till the very foundations of Rome should 
tremble. 

Soon after this, Luther was made Theological Profes- 
sor, or Doctor of the Scriptures. There was, in reference 
to the oath he was now required to take, another of those 
marked interpositions of Providence, to push him on in his 
work as a reformer. He was required to " swear to de- 
fend the truth of the gospel with all his might!' This, 
though it had often been taken as a mere matter of form, 
was now received in good earnest. Luther now felt 
himself commissioned by the University, by his Prince, 
and in the name of the Emperor, and by Rome herself, to 
be the fearless herald of the trutb; He must now, in 



OPPOSITION TO THE REFORMATION. 83 

obedience to the highest authority on earth and of 
Heaven, be a Reformer* 

Thus did the Hand of God resuscitate a long and shame- 
fully abused oath, and snatch it from the hands of pro- 
fanation, and arm it with a power that none could gain- 
say or resist. 

Already has enough been said to develop the genius of 
the Reformation. I am not to give a history of it. It 
was the child of Providence — begotten, nourished, ma- 
tured by the plastic hand of Heaven. Were we to 
follow Luther from his first putting forth his " Theses" 
for public discussion, till he laid down his armor at the 
dread summons of death, the head and leader of a great 
reformed church, we should see him in the act of accom- 
plishing only what we have seen the hand of God prepar- 
ing him for. He was raised up, fitted and protected for 
this selfsame work.f 

Or were we to trace the history of his great coadjutors 
in the work, such as Calvin, Melancthon, Reuchlin, Hut- 
ten, Erasmas, Spalatin, Staupitz, Martin Pollich, Zuingle, 
or the other giants of those days, we should discover, in 
proportion as God deigned to use them, respectively, in 
the execution of his great plan, the hand of God, fitting 
each to his respective place, assigning each his work, and 
nerving the muscles of his soul for the great combat. 

Nor will it weaken our conviction that the Reforma- 
tion was a stupendous act of Providence for the ad- 
vancement of the true church and the spread of the true 
religion, if we notice the opposition it had to encounter, 
or on its final results. 

Both as to character and amount, this opposition was 
such as no earthly power could resist. The advantage 
was all against the Reformers. The errors, vices, super- 
* . — . — . — 

* D' Aubigne's History of the Reformation. 

t Not a few instances in his personal history illustrate the Divine care of him. De- 
termined to cut him off by stratagem, at a period when his popularity precluded the use 
of force, the Cardinal Legate and Pope's Nuncio, invited the great Reformer and his 
chief Saxon friends to a dinner ; when, according to previous arrangement, the Pope's 
representative should propose the exchange of the usual glass of wine, and that a 
deadly poison should be infused into the portion designed for Luther. The pompous 
Cardinal requested "the honor of drinking the learned and illustrious Doctor's health." 
The Cardinal's attendant presented the two glasses. But Luther's glass, as he raised it 
to his mouth, fell into his plate, and discovered the murderous potion. Thus the Hand 
of an ever watchful Providence delivered his chosen one from the snare of the fowler. 



84 HAM) OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

stitions, impositions or crimes which they attacked, were 
nurtured in the very bosom of the church, and could 
challenge the authority of the highest powers in church 
or state ; while the Reformers were without power, either 
civil or ecclesiastical, the sons of obscurity, sought out, 
fitted, and distinguished in the work by a special Provi- 
dence. Like the first disciples, they stood against the 
world. 

3. And the results are too well known to need to be 
made a subject of extended remark. It was a revolution 
that has cast a new aspect over the whole world. It is 
under the shadow of the wings of the reformed church, that 
civilization has spread and prospered ; that the printing- 
press has flourished and shed forth its leaves for the healing 
of the nations — that learning has prospered; the arts 
been cultivated and the sciences made to subserve the 
purposes of common life ; that enterprise has put forth 
its multifarious energies in the promotion of commerce, 
discovery, manufactures, and in the various forms of 
philanthropy and benevolence ; that the true science of 
government is better understood, and considerable ad- 
vancement made in the principles of freedom ; a broad 
and immovable basis laid for free institutions ; and re- 
ligion, pure and undefiled, has ventured to appear not 
only outside the cloister, or the sequestered valley, but 
on the wide arena of the world, in the face of Popes and 
inquisitors, in the face of nobles and kings, and boldly 
to assert its primeval claim to the earth. It was one 
of those vast movements of Providence, which, like 
angels' visits, are few and far between. It was one of 
those great deliverances, when Heaven deigns to inter- 
pose and give enlargement to Israel. 

We cannot review this vast transaction without in- 
creased admiration of an ever-working, ever-watchful 
Providence, working all things after the counsel of his 
own will, with none to stay his hand, or say unto Him, 
what doest thou. 

In concluding what I have to say on the Reformation, 
I may be indulged in one general remark : How grand 
and magnificent, then, must that work be which can so in- 
tensely engage the mind of the eternal God ! Such is the 



JAfHETH IN THE TENTS OF SHEM. 85 

work of Redemption. The unwearied hand of Provi- 
dence has always been engaged, preparing for some 
future development of the glory of the body of Christ, 
which is the church. From Adam to Christ, the lines of 
Providence were all converging to the Incarnation. 
Every change and revolution was so shaped as to be 
preparatory to the advent of the Messiah. That first 
grand mark of consummation being reached, the next 
principal point of concentration is the Millenium, or the 
complete development of grace, and its victory over sin. 
Ever since Christ offered up the great sacrifice for sin, 
the whole energy of Providence has been engaged to ma- 
ture the great plan and gather in its fruits. 

Ride forth, then, victorious King, from conquering to 
conquer, till the kingdoms of this world become the king- 
dom of our Lord and of his Christ. 



CHAPTER V. 



Japheth in the tents of Shewn : or, the Hand of God, as seen in the opening a way to In* 
dia by the way of the Cape of Good Hope. The posterity of Japheth. The Portu- 
guese empire in the East— its extent and extinction. Designs of Providence in 
opening India to Europe— not silks and satins, but to illustrate the evil of Idolatry, 
and the inefficacy of false religions and philosophy to reform men. The power of 
true religion. 

" God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of 
SAem."— Gen. ix. 27. 

A remarkable prophecy, and remarkably fulfilled 
God has enlarged Japheth by giving his descendants, for 
a dwelling place, all Europe, Asia Minor, America, many 
of the islands of the sea, and the northern portions of 
Asia. Japheth has peopled half the globe. Besides his 
original possessions, and much gained by colonizing, he 
has greatly extended his dominions by conquest. The 
Greeks, the Romans, the English, have, successively, 

8 



86 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

"dwelt in the tents of Shem." At the present time, the 
offspring of Japheth, the English chiefly, wield the sceptre 
over scarcely less than two hundred millions of the seed of 
Shem. This is worthy of remark, especially in connec- 
tion with the fact, that Christianity has hitherto been 
confined, almost exclusively, to the posterity of Japheth. 
A line, encircling on the map of the world the nations 
descended from Japheth, incloses nearly all the Chris- 
tianity at present in the world. Before Christ, God com- 
mitted the riches of his grace to the posterity of Shem ; 
since, he has confined the same sacred trust to the chil- 
dren of Japheth. 

The mind of the reader has already been directed to 
one of the enlargements of Japheth — the possession of the 
American continent. I am now prepared to speak of an- 
other, an enlargement eastward, the discovery of the 
great East, by the Cape of Good Hope — another theatre 
on which should be acted the great drama of human sal- 
vation. 

When, in the fifteenth century, God was about to pu- 
rify and enlarge his church, when the King was pre- 
paring for a glorious onward march of the truth by pro- 
viding resources, men, means, and all sorts of facilities, 
an enlargement of territory was by no means the least 
providential desideratum. The church would soon need 
room ; new provinces, new continents, whither to trans- 
plant the " vine" of Calvary. But God never lacks ex- 
pedients. A spirit of bold adventure moves again over 
the face of the deep, and not only a new continent arises 
beyond the dark waves of the great Western sea, but, 
nearly at the same time, an old continent, scarcely more 
know T n, emerges from the thick darkness of paganism in 
. the far East. 

We have seen the church reformed and renovated, 
armed and strengthened for some grand onset upon the na- 
tions. And we have seen the field already opened west- 
ward, wide enough, and promising enough to engage all 
her renerved energies. But should the star of Bethle- 
hem, now just emerging from the darkness of the past 
centuries, shine only westward ? Should the vast re- 
gions, peopled by so many myriads of immortals, and once 



PASSAGE TO INDIA DISCOVERED. 87 

cheered by the " star of the East," forever lie under the 
darkness of Paganism ? The good pleasure of Heaven 
is here, as always, indicated by the stately steppings of 
Providence. 

While the Reformation is yet developing in Europe, 
and its energies are being matured for an onward move- 
ment, just the time when mind is beginning to assume its 
independence, and religion its vitality, all the wealth, and 
wickedness, and woe, of the East, with its teeming mill- 
ions of deathless souls, are being laid open to the ameli- 
orating process of reformed Christianity. It shall be our 
business to trace the manner in which this has been 
done ; and to mark the hand of God as he has compassed 
such a result. It is not ours, however, to stop here to 
deplore, as we might, maris delinquency ', as a reason why 
these vast and populous regions have not, since having 
been made accessible, been sooner Christianized and 
blessed, but rather to admire God's efficiency in intro- 
ducing them to the West, and giving them into the hands 
of Christian nations at this particular time. 

The adventurous spirit of the fifteenth century made 
known and accessible to the Christian world all the rich 
and populous countries of southern and eastern Asia, 
from the river Indus to the island of Japan. And it is 
not a little remarkable that the efforts which the Portu- 
guese and Spaniards made to drive the Moors from their 
peninsula, were the beginning of these discoveries. As, 
from time to time, they pursued those native foes of the 
cross, back to Africa, and coasted about its shores, taking 
revenge for the long series of outrages they had suffered 
from the Moors, they so improved their maritime skill, 
and roused the enterprise of both monarch and people, 
that soon they are found pushing their adventurous barks 
southward, in attempts to find a south point to Africa. 
And, after many fruitless struggles, Dias finally doubled 
the Cape of Good Hope, in 1486, but made no important 
discoveries. This was reserved for Vasco de Gama, 
twelve years later. He visited India, formed commei- 
cial relations, and laid the foundation for an empire. 

Thus, while the territory of Mohammedanism was nai- 
rowing in Europe, and the progress of the Moors in 



88 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

arts, sciences, and civilization, was forever arrested, vast 
dominions were added to Christendom, at least prospect- 
ively, in the East, as had been in the West. And though, 
for the present, uncultivated and unproductive, they are 
capable, under proper culture, of yielding an abundant 
harvest. 

The Portuguese were soon in possession of a magnificent 
empire. Its extent, opulence, and the splendor with 
which it was conducted, has scarcely a rival in the his- 
tory of nations. It stretched over one hundred degrees 
of longitude, from the Red sea to Japan, embracing the 
south of Persia, India, Birmah, China, and the numerous 
islands of the Indian archipelago. Not less than half the 
entire population of the globe were thus thrown into the 
arms of a nominally Christian nation. 

But the sceptre of this vast empire soon passes away, 
first to the Dutch, and then to the English. The French 
became competitors, playing no inconsiderable part in the 
game for Oriental kingdoms. But they were of Rome, 
and Rome should not rule there. Protestant England 
has, at length, become almost the sole owner of the once 
magnificent empire of the Portuguese. From the Red 
sea to Japan she has no rival. 

Much has been written on the commercial and territo- 
rial importance of India. The discoveries of De Gama 
were very justly regarded as commencing a new era in 
the world ; and history will never overlook the undoubted 
benefits of the new relations which were, from this time, 
formed between the West and the East. Yet the saga- 
city of the world has lost sight of the chief design of 
Providence in these discoveries. Was it simply that Eu- 
rope might be " replenished from the East/' and " please 
herself in the children of strangers," that the immense 
territories of India were laid at her feet ? Was it for 
silks and satins, for luxuries and gewgaws — for no higher 
objects than wealth and territorial aggrandizement, or 
more extensive commercial relations, that the King of 
nations made Europe master of Asia ? 

These are the things the world has so much admired 
in the nearer connection of Europe and Asia. History, 
eloquence, poetry, have wondered at these mere incidents 



THE EVIL OF IDOLATRY. 89 

in the great scheme of Providence, overlooking the chief 
design, which we believe to be, first, and for a long series 
of years, to furnish a theatre on which to make certain im- 
portant developments, and to teach the church and the 
world certain important lessons ; and, secondly, to extend 
the triumphs of the Cross over all those countries. 

India affords to such as intelligently and piously watch 
the hand of God in his magnificent movements in the 
work of redemption, a subject for intense and interesting 
study. While developments in the progress of the church 
of a different character were transpiring in America — 
God transferring his church thither, and planting her in a 
more congenial soil, and giving her room to take root and 
grow, India was, and has continued to be, the theatre of 
developments not less interesting. She has stood for 
centuries the teacher of nations. On that theatre, God 
has all this time been teaching. 

1. The evil of Idolatry. In the great mental and reli- 
gious revolution of the sixteenth century, God was pre- 
paring the sacramental host for a more formidable onset 
against the foes of Immanuel. On the one hand, he had 
allowed the enemy t<3 intrench himself in the strong- 
holds of the earth. The wealth, learning, philosophy, re- 
ligion of the earlie&t civilized, and the most fertile and 
populous portions of the globe ; their social habits, their 
every-day maxims, proverbs, and songs ; their principles 
of action and habits of thinking were surrendered to the 
foes of the cross. Centuries had riveted the chains ; and 
now sin stood as the strong man armed, frowning defi- 
ance on all who should question his right to the dominion 
of the earth. Idolatry was his strong-hold. On the 
other hand, the great King had come down to earth, and 
cleansed his temple, and enlarged the boundaries of the 
true Israel. The number of the faithful in Europe were 
vastly increased, and armed (by means of the Bible, edu- 
cation, the press, and the mariner's compass,) with a 
power before unknown. Colonies had been planted in 
this new Canaan, and here was maturing a rear guard, 
which may yet become the main army, and spread its 
wings eastward and westward, and become mighty to 
the pulling down of strong-holds. All seemed preparing 

8* 



90 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

for the conflict — the church to take possession of the 
earth. 

But mark here the way of the Lord. Centuries are 
permitted to elapse before these wide wastes are inclosed 
in the garden of our God. Not only must the church be 
better prepared to take possession — her numbers and 
ability be so increased that she may supply her new allies 
with the needed spiritual resources, and her active benev- 
olence and spirituality be such that her image may, 
with honor to herself and to her God, be stamped on the 
heathen world ; but, on the other hand, there must needs 
be an exhibition of the malady to be healed. It must be 
seen what a potent foe to truth Idolatry is — a great sys- 
tem of infidelity, ingeniously devised in the council-cham- 
ber of hell, and fatally suited to the desires of the human 
heart. The church, and the world too, must see what 
Idolatry is, in its power to enslave and crush immortal 
mind ; in its devices to deceive ; in its malignant influ- 
ences to dry up the social and benevolent affections ; in 
its withering blight on every starting germ of civilization 
and learning, and in the death-blow it strikes to every 
thing noble and virtuous. 

Hence the providential subjection of those vast regions 
of Idolatry to Christian nations. By this means, the 
church has had a fair and protracted opportunity to con- 
template Idolatry in all its odious features, and, at the 
same time, fairly to test her own professed principles and 
zeal for its abolition. Providentially, Christian men, of 
every condition in life, and for a long series of years, have 
resided among those pagan nations, and enjoyed every fa- 
cility to estimate the curse of Paganism, both in its bear- 
ing on this life, and the life to come. But the mere ex- 
posure of the evil is not all. 

2. India affords a striking example of the inefficacy of 
philosophy to reform man in this life, or to save him in 
the next. Brahmanism and Bhoodism are refined and 
skillfully formed systems of Idolatry — the combined wis- 
dom of ages. Philosophy, metapSysics, worldly wisdom, 
were taxed to the utmost in their production. They pre- 
sent a fair specimen of what human reason can do. If 
these systems cannot ameliorate the condition of man 



INEFFICACY OF PHILOSOPHY. 91 

here, and hold out hopes of a glorious immortality, no re- 
ligion of human origin can. 

But as the great experiment has been in progress some 
thousand years, and during the last three hundred and 
fifty under the eye of Christendom, what has been the 
result ? As a remedy for the moral maladies of man has 
it been efficacious ? Has the nation been reformed, or 
individuals ? Has it shed a ray of light on the dark 
path- way to the tomb, or raised a single, cheering hope 
beyond the veil of the flesh ? Where has it wiped the 
tear from sorrow's eye, or spoken peace to the troubled 
spirit, or supplied the wants of the needy, or opened the 
prison-doors to them that are bound? Where has it 
spread its fostering wings over the rising genius of civili- 
zation, nurtured the institutions of learning, or been the 
patron of virtue and morality ? Three and a half centu- 
ries (since the eyes of Europe have been on India,) 
have surely been a sufficient time — to say nothing of 
the thirty or forty centuries which preceded — to test 
the merits of a religion. And what has been the result ? 
It is stereotyped in the vices and superstitions, in the 
crimes and ignorance, in the debasement and corruption 
of those nations. In spite of the most scrupulous observ- 
ance of rites, and the most costly austerities, they have 
waxed worse and worse. In their religion, there is no 
principle of veneration. The more religion they have, 
the more corrupt they are. 

Nor has Mohammedanism been scarcely more success- 
ful. Incorporating more of truth, its votaries are not 
sunk so low as pagans, yet it has altogether failed of an- 
swering the end for which man needs a religion. 

India has, therefore, been made a theatre from which 
the nations might learn the inefficacy of philosophy and 
man's wisdom to produce a moral reformation. And 
more than this : Providence has been there teaching, 

3. The inefficacy of a corrupt Christianity to renovate 
and bless a nation. As far back as history reaches, the 
thick darkness of the East has been made visible by the 
faint glimmerings of the light of truth. During all her 
long and melancholy alienation from the true God, India 
has, perhaps, never been without her witnesses for the 



92 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

truth. To say nothing of many relics of patriarchal reli- 
gion, a large number of Jews, after the destruction of the 
first temple, and the conquest and captivity of the nation 
by Nebuchadnezzar, (588, B. C.,) yielding to the stern 
necessity of the conqueror's power, forsook their na- 
tive land — the lovely hills and smiling valleys of Pales- 
tine and Mount Zion, whose very dust they loved, and 
their temple, the beauty of the whole earth, and sought 
an asylum amidst the idolatrous nations of India. They 
carried with them the writings of the Old Testament, 
were accompanied with more or less of their religious 
teachers, established their synagogue worship, and be- 
came, in all things, Jewish communities, amidst a great 
pagan nation. These are known by the name of Black 
Jews, in distinction from the Jerusalem or White Jews. 

They are scattered throughout India, China, and Tar- 
tary. To Dr. Buchanan, who visited them in 1806 — 8, 
and to whom we are indebted principally for the few in- 
teresting items we have of their history, they gave a list 
of sixty-Jive places, where societies of Black Jews then 
resided, and among which a constant communication is 
kept up. Having been exposed to an Indian sun nearly 
twenty-four centuries, in complexion they are scarcely 
to be distinguished from the Hindoos. These voluntary 
exiles have, during this long period, been remarkably pre- 
served as a monument of the ancient economy. 

The Jerusalem or White Jews, for very similar rea- 
sons, bade a reluctant farewell to their native Judea, af- 
ter the destruction of the second temple, and the over- 
throw of the Jewish nation by the Romans under Titus. 
Says a narrative preserved among them, " A numerous 
body of men, women, priests and Levites, departed from 
Jerusalem and came to this land. There were among 
them men of repute for learning and wisdom ; and God 
gave the people favor in the sight of the king, who, at 
that time, reigned here ; and he granted them a place to 
dwell in, called Cranganore." Others followed them 
from Judea, Spain, and other places. Here they pros- 
pered a thousand years. Since that period, they have 
been made to participate in the bitter cup of their dis- 
persed brethren. Dissensions within, and wars without, 



THE SYRIAN CHRISTIANS. 93 

have diminished and scattered them J yet they are to be 
found, at this day, at Cochin, where they worship the 
God of their fathers, in their synagogues, every sabbath 
day. They have the Old Testament and many Hebrew 
manuscripts. 

Thus has Providence, for nearly two thousand and 
four hundred years, preserved a succession of witnesses 
for the truth in the land of idols — not at the first, lights 
of great brilliancy, and growing more and more dim as 
the latter-day glory approached, and the great Light 
arose, but sufficient to keep alive, in the heart of a great 
nation of pagans, some idea of the true God. 

Nor is this all : another succession of witnesses, of a 
still higher order, has existed there ever since the age of 
the apostles, in the Syrian Christians. Tradition reports 
that St. Thomas first introduced the gospel into those 
distant regions, and there established the Christian church. 
They are called, to this day, St. Thomas Christians. 
Like the Jewish church, just alluded to, their light shone 
brightest at the first, but grew dimmer as the light of 
the Reformation shed its healing rays on the East. So 
numerous and flourishing were they in the fourth cen- 
tury, that they were represented, in the council of Nice, 
(325,) by their patriarch, or archbishop. 

On the arrival of Vasco de Gama, (1503,) he found 
more than one hundred flourishing Christian churches on 
the Malabar coast, and though sad havoc had been made 
by the emmissaries of Rome, there were, at the time of 
Dr. Buchanan's visit, fifty-five churches, and about fifty 
thousand souls, who had not acknowledged the suprem- 
acy of the Pope. The churches, in the interior especially, 
would not yield to Rome, but continued to receive their 
bishops from Antioch, as they had done from the first. 
They are a branch of the Nestorian Church, which is, at 
present, exciting a laudable interest, and which, in the 
early ages of Christianity, was favorably known in the 
history of the church for the establishment of missions in 
India, China, and Tartary. They have the Sacred Scrip- 
tures, and other manuscripts, in the Syriac language, and 
use, in divine service on Lord's day, the Liturgy formerly 
used by the church at Antioch; and it is their honest 



94 HANS OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

pride that they date their origin back to that period, and 
to that land, where Christianity first rose, and to that 
particular spot where the disciples were first called Chris- 
tians. 

Their former glory has departed, and they are but the 
shadow of what they were ; yet, their light still flickers 
amidst the wide extended darkness of that land of deatk 
For centuries has this light shone on the surrounding 
darkness, w T hich has but ill comprehended it. These 
Christian communities bore a decided testimony in favor 
of the religion of Jesus, and, through successive genera- 
tions, exerted no inconsiderable influence in refining, lib- 
eralizing, and improving the moral condition of vast mul- 
titudes of pagans. In the ordering of an eventful Provi- 
dence, Christianity has had witnesses there from its ori- 
gin ; and systems of Idolatry have been modified to meet 
the advancing state of the human mind, under the benign 
auspices of the gospel.* 

From time to time, light has been breaking in from 
other quarters. The nations of Western Asia, have, 
from time immemorial, sustained commercial relations 
with India. An extensive trade was carried on through 
the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulph, and thence over 
land to the great emporiums of the West. Hence Chris- 
tian travelers, merchants, civil functionaries, and vari- 
ous classes of adventurers, traversed these vast regions 
of the shadow of death. Many of these, at different 
periods, settled in the country ; others were only sojourn- 
ers. All added something to the general stock of a 
knowledge of Christianity — a further monument to the 
truth of God, in these wide fields of Idolatry. The 
Armenians, the Greeks, the Venetians and Genoese, each 
contributed a share to scatter light and truth in the East. 

These were some of the agencies in operation before 
the discoveries of De Gama. And, what is worthy of 
special remark, they were effective just in proportion as 
they contained the salt of the pure religion. Their illu- 

* The ideas which the Hindoos have of an Incarnation, as discovered, particularly 
in the history of their god, Krishna, and, perhaps, all they know of the Trinity, has 
been smuggled into Hindooism from Christianity. 



ROMANISM IN INDIA. 95 

mination was in proportion to the truth they embodied 
and illustrated. 

But it is time to turn to what may be termed the great 
effort to convert India to the Christian faith. We have 
said the Portuguese established a magnificent empire in 
the East, embracing all the southern portions of Asia. 
A leading feature in their government every where, was 
to establish their religion, to erect churches, support 
priests, and convert the natives, whether by persuasion 
or force. Thus were the banners of the Romish reli- 
gion fully, and for a long time, unfurled over more than 
three hundred millions of pagans. Every influence, 
(but light and love,) not excepting the horrors of the 
Inquisition, was used to swell the number of converts. 
Romanism has abounded in those countries. Tens of 
thousands of churches and priests, and millions of com- 
municants, have represented, — rather mzs-represented 
Christianity there, for three hundred years. 

And what has been the result ? Has not the leaven 
had time to work, and show what has been the efficacy 
of all that gorgeous array of the Romish faith and ritual, 
in ameliorating the temporal condition, and improving 
the moral state of myriads of converts to Rome ? We 
can bear personal testimony that, in India, there has 
probably been nothing gained by the change. It has 
been little more nor less than passing from one set of 
rites, usages and superstitions, to another, as worthless 
and debasing, and from the worship of one set of ima- 
ges to that of another. In general, Romanism imposes 
less restraint on the immoral, than Hindooism. 

It would, perhaps, be too much to say that India has 
received no good at the hands of Rome ; yet we may 
safely say, the experiment, so long and so extensively tried, 
when viewed in the light of renovating India, has been a 
complete failure. Nor has its influence been but neutral. 
The little good it may have effected, is no compensation 
for the gross misrepresentation it has made of the Chris- 
tian religion, and the consequent prejudice with which 
it has armed the Pagan mind against Christianity in any 
form. 

Never, perhaps, has the Romish church had a more 



96 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

faithful or successful missionary in the East, than the 
Abbe Dubois. Yet, after a residence of thirty years, and 
having made ten thousand converts, he leaves in despair 
of ever seeing any favorable moral change in the Hin- 
doos, declaring that out of this immense multitude, he 
could recall but a single instance where he believed there 
was any moral renovation ; thus palpably conceding the 
complete impotency of Romanism, to raise, purify and 
bless a debased people. 

Providence, on a large scale, has here furnished a prac- 
tical illustration, that a spurious Christianity has not the 
power to renovate and raise to spiritual health and life 
a Pagan nation. 

Another lesson designed to be taught on the broad 
arena of Paganism beyond the Cape, is, that nothing 
short of spiritual Christianity, can renovate the great 
East. What Romanism has so signally failed to do, the 
Bible, in the hands of the living preacher, is nobly doing. 
Habits and usages, inveterate and formidable, have been 
changed; prejudices removed, and character, individual, 
and in whole communities, completely transformed. 
Pure Christianity has shown itself omnipotent there. 
Already we number hundreds of thousands of Protestant 
Christians, in India alone, many of whom give pleasing 
evidence of a moral change. And nothing but increased 
means and men, and the smiles of Heaven, are needed 
to increase these successes to any extent. 

We need no further guarantee that the gospel of Christ 
is potent enough to bring back to God, any and all those 
mighty nations of the East. 

Such are the points which have already been illustra- 
ted through the discovery of India. But this is no more 
than the beginning. India, and all the countries of the 
East, are to be, — are already being, converted to God. 
What a field ! What teeming millions of immortal souls ! 
De Gama introduced to Europe half the population 
of the globe. Would we, therefore, scan the chief design 
of Providence, in the event of these Eastern discoveries, 
we must anticipate the day when all their nations, tongues 
and people, shall be gathered into the fold of the great 
Shepherd. Then shall the God of Japheth indeed dwell 



FUTURE DESIGNS OF PROVIDENCE. 97 

in the tents of Shem, and they shall be one fold, and 
the great purposes of Providence be consummated in 
adding to the domains of the true church, all those pop- 
ulous territories which have so long a time lain in bond- 
age to the prince of this world. 

If we may infer the future designs of Providence, 
from the past and the present, we shall entertain the most 
stupendous expectations of what is yet to transpire on 
that vast theatre. At one time we saw the empire of all 
the East, as by magic, laid prostrate at the foot of Rome. 
Then, in a little time, a sudden and unexpected revolu- 
tion transfers the vast possessions of the Portuguese into 
Protestant hands. From the time the Portuguese first 
gained a foothold in India, till their magnificent empire 
had passed away, and the English had supplanted them 
and become master of their dominions, was scarcely 
more than a single century. The transfer has supplied a 
marvelous chapter in the book of Providence. The 
ultimate design, we doubtless have not seen ; yet we 
have seen enough to raise our admiration. It is through 
Protestant England that those great and populous nations 
are opened for the entrance of the gospel. British rule, 
and admission and protection to the missionary, are 
co-extensive. A word and a blow, from the little Isle in 
the West, and Despotism and Idolatry loose the chains 
with which they had for so many centuries bound their 
stupid victims, and more than half the population of the 
globe are accessible to the embassador of the cross. The 
field is white for the harvest. 

Obstacles have been removed. Paganism is in its 
dotage. Unsupported by any state alliance, or any prop, 
save that of abstract depravity, it can offer no formida- 
ble opposition to the introduction of Christianity. The 
haughty followers of the Arabian prophet, too, have been 
humbled, and the power of their arm broken. The 
Romish Inquisition there has been silenced, and many a 
strong-hold of the Papacy demolished. The Bible has 
been translated into every principal language ; the press 
is established in almost every important position in the 
great field, so many radiating points of light and truth ; 
education is doing its work, preparing the minds of hun- 

9 



98 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

dreds of thousands to receive the healing influence of 
the words of truth. An acquaintance has been formed 
with the religions, the philosophy, the languages of these 
Pagan nations ; with their manners, customs, history, 
modes of thinking and reasoning. Dictionaries and 
grammars have been prepared, and a great variety of 
books. Schools have been established, — churches erected, 
and, indeed, an extensive apparatus is ready for the 
evangelical workman. Knowledge has been increased, 
the blessings of civilization, and the results of modern 
inventions and discoveries introduced, and, finally, the 
benign influences of Christianity have already, to a no 
inconsiderable extent, unfurled their banners over those 
lands of darkness and spiritual death. Among the 
130,000,000, of India, there is scarcely a village which is 
not accessible to some, if not to all, the labors of the 
missionary. 

Or were we to contemplate the success which has 
already attended the very partial endeavors which have 
been made to convert India, we should still more admire 
the Hand that doeth wonders, and look that, at no dis- 
tant future, the great Gentile world shall pay their hom- 
age at the feet of their rightful Sovereign. Whole com- 
munities, — numerous, contiguous villages, as in the prov- 
ince of Krishnugar, South India and Ceylon, have cast 
away their idols, and professed allegiance to Christ. 

If we may take what is, as a presage of what shall be, 
— if we may judge what the building shall be, by an 
inspection of the foundation, — the superstructure from 
the vast amount of materials we see in the course of 
preparation, we must believe Providence has a stupen- 
dous plan yet to accomplish, in connection with the East. 
The intelligent and pious reader of history will re-peruse 
the record of God's dealings towards the Gentiles of 
Asia, — especially will he ponder with new interest, that 
single act of Providence, which, in the close of the fif- 
teenth century, opened a high- way between Europe and 
Asia, bringing the wants and woes of Asia to the very 
doors of Anglo-Saxon Christianity, to prefer their own 
claims for aid, and pouring the light and spiritual life of 
Truth, as a fertilizing river, over the vast deserts of Asia. 



GREAT DESIGN IN RESPECT TO INDIA. 99 

The imperfect view which has here been taken of a 
subject which, of itself, cannot but interest the philosophi- 
cal historian' and the contemplative Christian, will, at 
least, leave on the mind of the reader the impression 
that God has some great design to accomplish, in respect 
to India : and it urges on every friend of humanity and 
of truth, the duty of following in the footsteps of Provi- 
dence, and doing those things which, as a matter of 
means, shall carry 0&t the magnificent plan of Him who 
worketh, and no man hindereth. The vast and pro- 
tracted preparation indicates such a design. Three cen- 
turies and a half have elapsed in preparation. What 
shall the end be ? 

Another obvious reflection is, that God takes time to 
carry on his work. Why has India so long been con- 
signed to waste and spiritual desolation ? It has been a 
field for observation and experiment. Sin must have its 
perfect work. In its worst forms, it must have time and 
space to luxuriate, — to go to seed, and yield its noxious 
harvest. It must be permitted to show what it can do, 
and all it can do. It must show itself. 

Finally, God here rebukes the impatience and distrust 
of his people. They murmur and faint, because wicked- 
ness and oppression abound, and God does not speedily 
avenge the cause of his elect, and bring wickedness to 
an end. God takes time. In the end, all shall be put in 
order. 

And, with the same propriety, it might be asked — 
why has Central and South America, some of the rich- 
est and most beautiful portions of our globe, been con- 
signed for so long a time, to waste and spiritual desolation; 
been allowed to be trampled under foot, and devastated 
by the Papal Beast ? Rome has been trying her experi- 
ment there, and after a fair trial for centuries, we see 
ivhat Rome can do. She has had the training of the 
aborigines of those countries all to herself, with every 
possible natural advantage ; and we do her no injustice, 
when we take their social, political, moral and religious 
condition, as a sample of the value of Romish missions, 
and of the transforming efficacy of Romish Christianity. 

New developments are now being made on the Ameri- 



100 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

can continent, in respect to India and the great East. 
The present " California excitement/' seems to be another 
of the great pulsations of Providence, to open a passage 
through the whole breadth of our continent, to form a 
great commercial depot and thoroughfare on the Pacific, 
and open a new line of communication with the whole 
eastern world. It is an historical fact, often admired, 
that what is called the "India trade/' has never failed 
to enrich and aggrandize every western nation which 
has been able to secure it : and that every route through 
which this commerce and intercourse has passed, has 
been most signally benefited. Of the latter, the eye at 
once fixes on Palmyra, Balbec, Alexandria, Venice ; all 
ow r ed their grandeur, wealth and importance, to the rela- 
tions in which they stood to the India trade. We are 
yet to see whether another " Tadmor of the Desert," is 
not to spring up on the Pacific, — whether the stupendous 
bay of San Francisco is not to be the great depot of 
the Eastern trade, — whether a new route is not to be 
opened to this trade, and its advantages now be trans- 
ferred another step westward. 



CHAPTEE VI. 



God in history. The Church safe. Expulsion of the Moors from Spain. Transfer of 
India to Protestant hands. Philip II. and Holland. Spanish invincible Armada. 
The bloody Mary of England. Dr. Cole and Elizabeth Edmonds. Cromwell and 
Hampden to sail for America. Return of the Waldenses and Henry Arnaud. Gun- 
powder plot. Cromwell's usurpation. Revolution of 16§£. James II. and Louis 
XIV. Peter the Great. Rare constellation of great men. 

" The Lord's portion is his people. Jacob is the lot of his in* 
heritance" <5fc. — Deut. xxxii. 9 — 14. 

Nothing can exceed the tender and unremitting care 
of God for his people. They are termed " his portion," 
" his inheritance/' " the apple of his eye." " He found 



THE CHURCH SAFE. 101 

him in a desert land and in a waste howling wilderness ; 
he led him about ; he instructed him ; he kept him as the 
apple of his eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, flut- 
tereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, 
taketh them, beareth them on her wings, so the Lord 
alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with 
him/' And what can surpass the beauty and richness of 
the idea that follows : " He made him ride on the high 
places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the 
fields ; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, 
and oil out of the flinty rock ; butter of kine and milk of 
sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, 
and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of wheat ; and 
thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape ?' expres- 
sions, though highly figurative, w 7 hich indicate the exu- 
berance of the Divine goodness, and afford convincing 
proof of his never-failing care. God will honor them 
that honor him. They that trust in him shall lack no 
good thing. 

That God has abundantly fulfilled such rich promises, 
that he has uniformly acted towards his people as his 
" portion," his " inheritance," the " apple of his eye," has 
already been illustrated. We have seen the arm of the 
Lord made bare to defend his inheritance in Jacob, and 
his hands open to supply their wants. I shall now ask 
you to follow me a little farther, and you shall see the 
same mighty arm still engaged on Zion's behalf, and the 
same exhaustless resources at her command. The Lord's 
portion is his people. 

I design, at present, to direct your minds to several 
historical events which strikingly illustrate the agency of 
Providence in the progress and establishment of the 
Christian church. I can no more than select from a 
great variety of Providential interpositions. Indeed, I 
may remark at the outset, that the very existence of the 
church supposes a ceaseless interposition of the Almighty 
arm. It is a standing miracle, not that there should be 
a nominal Christianity and a large and powerful Christian 
church, for all this might be in perfect consistency with 
worldly principles ; the wonder is, that a pure evangelical 
church should live in the world at all ; that she has been 

9* 



102 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

allowed a permanent foothold amidst the perverse gener- 
ations of men. The current of the world, the tide of 
human affairs, has always been opposed to her. Persecu- 
tions, wave after wave, have rolled over her ; yet she has 
stood as an immovable rock amidst the angry floods. 
Civil power, philosophy, history, science, poetry, fashion, 
custom, wit, have all in their turn been made engines to 
assail the impregnable fortress of Christianity. Intrigue 
has spared no wicked device to undermine her founda- 
tions ; cruelty and unrelenting hate have poured out the 
vials of their w<rath in the horrors of the Inquisition, or 
let loose the bloodhounds of war to worry out and exter- 
minate the saints of the Most High. Heresy, infidelity, 
superstitions, and fanaticism, misguided zeal, unhallowed 
invasions on her doctrines and ordinances, and all spuri- 
ous forms of Christianity have, in their turn, done what 
they could to prostrate the fair fabric of religion, or so to 
undermine confidence in her, to arrest or neutralize her 
benevolent influences, as to make her appear to the world 
of little worth. The wisdom, policy, and spirit of the 
world — the maxims, principles, and acts of the worldly — 
have done any thing but foster the vine brought out of 
Egypt. 

And what has been the result ? The church has out- 
rode every storm. She has passed unscathed by the 
lightnings of human violence. Like the oak that strikes 
its roots deeper, and clings to its rocky soil the more 
tenaciously, as the storm beats arid the tempest rages, 
the church has been strengthened amidst the rigors of 
persecution, and nourished by the blood of her martyrs. 

But if we descend to details, we shall be not the less 
gratified to discern the love of God engaged, and his om- 
nipotent arm made bare to defend and favor his beloved 
Zion. I shall direct your minds to a few historical events 
which illustrate this interesting truth. 

1. The eocpulsion of the Moors from Spain. 

But a few years elapsed after Mohammed broached 
his impostures to the world, before Moslemism spread 
over nearly all Asia, the eastern part of Europe, and a 
great part of Africa. The portions of Africa adjacent to 
Spain early became its strong-holds. The countries now 



THE MOORS EXPELLED FROM SPAIN. 103 

called Morocco and Fez were then called Mauritania, and 
its inhabitants Moors. They were of Arabian origin, and 
seem to have been an enterprising, warlike, intelligent 
people. They formed the channel through which the 
knowledge of the arts and sciences, and an acquaintance 
with civilization, traveled into Europe. Taking advan- 
tage of the distracted state of Spain, the Moors took pos- 
session of large portions of that country which they held 
near eight centuries, from 713 to 1492. Here they 
established a* magnificent kingdom, cultivated learning, 
while all the rest of Europe was sunk in barbarism, and 
left behind them enduring monuments of their industry 
and skill in the arts. 

We may take, as some specimen of the magnificence 
of the Saracen empire, the single city of Cordova ; which, 
in point of wealth and grandeur, was scarcely inferior to 
its proud rival on the banks of the Tigris. A space of 
twenty-four miles in length and six in breadth, along the 
margin of the Guadalquiver, was occupied with streets, 
gardens, palaces, and public edifices. For ten miles the 
citizens might travel by the light of the lamps along an 
uninterrupted extent of buildings. In the reign of Alma- 
zor, Cordova could boast of 270,000 houses, 80,000 shops, 
80 public schools, 50 hospitals, 911 baths, 3,877 mosques, 
from the minarets of which 800,000 persons were daily 
summoned to prayers. The seraglio of the caliph con- 
sisted of the enormous number of 6,300 wives, concubines, 
and black eunuchs. The caliph was attended to the field 
by a guard of 12,000 horsemen, whose belts and scimi- 
tars were studded with gold. Such was Cordova : and 
the city of Grenada was, perhaps, equally celebrated for 
its wealth, luxury, and learning. 

A! the period of which we now speak, nothing seemed 
more probable than that the western world and all coming 
generations, should receive their learning, civilization 
and religion at the hands of the followers of the false 
prophet. The tide of human affairs now indicated that 
the crescent, instead of the cross, would monopolize the 
vast resources of knowledge, of discoveries, inventions, 
improvements in arts, advancement in the sciences, and 
of all the modern facilities for the propagation and estab- 



104 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

lishment of religion which Christianity now enjoys. Had 
not the tide of Mahommedan advancement been arrested 
just at the time it was, (a year before the discovery of 
America.) in all human probability the vast advantages 
which now accrue to Christianity from the use of the 
press, the mariner's compass, the application of steam to 
the purposes of locomotion and the arts, and from the 
various rich improvements of modern days, would have 
been engines to propel onward the terrific car of Islam, 
and crush in its course every rising germ of Chris- 
tianity. 

But He that watches the falling sparrow, and numbers 
the hairs of your head, would not have it so. The man- 
date had gone out from the throne of the Majesty of 
Heaven, saying to the rolling billows of Arabia's mad 
fanaticism, " Thus far shalt thou come and no farther." 
When the imperial city of Grenada yielded to the arms 
of Ferdinand and Isabella, and the banners of the cross 
waved triumphant over the red towers of the Alhambra, 
the tide of Mahommedanism was turned back, and from 
that good hour the religion of Calvary was fledged for 
her immortal flight. She now began to rise from the 
dust of her debasement, to be seated on the "white 
horse," to be borne aloft and far away by the hand of 
her God, and through the instrumentality of the facilities 
which the world in its late progress has afforded, for the 
spread and prosperity of religion. Henceforth these 
facilities should be the friends and servants of Christ, and 
not the slaves of Mohammed. 

A few more historical references will set Providential 
interposition in a still clearer light. God places the 
Moslems for eight centuries in Spain, just in the position 
where they might act most effectually as the handmaid 
of Europe, in the restoration of learning and general ad- 
vancement, uses them as long as he needed, then sends 
them back to Africa just in time to give the empire of 
letters and the power of knowledge to his church. How 
their progress was arrested cannot be a matter void of 
interest. 

In the eighth century (732) it seemed that all Europe 
must yield to the arms of the Moslems. From the rock 



THE SARACENS DEFEATED. 105 

of Gibraltar to the Loire, nothing impeded their progress. 
Another such distance would have made England a prov- 
ince of the Grand Caliph : " the interpretation of the 
Koran had been the scholastic divinity of Oxford and 
Edinburgh ; our cathedrals supplanted by gorgeous 
mosques, and our pulpits employed in demonstrating to a 
circumcised people the truth of the apostleship and reve- 
lations of Mohammed. Such was the destiny that seemed 
to impend over all Europe, from the Baltic to the Cy- 
clades, when the standard of Islam floated over the walls 
of Tours." But this cloud of devouring locusts should 
be turned back. The hand of Providence was stretched 
out to arrest the progress of the conqueror, and save the 
church of Christ. Charles Martel was the " hammer" 
in the hands of Omnipotence to break the power of the 
foe, and save Europe, to be a field for the development of 
God's truth. The finger of God is here remarkable. 
France (Gaul) was attacked by an army of Saracens, 
385,000 strong. They were met by the French, under 
Charles, near Toulouse. The great Abdalrahman was 
slain, and, " after a bloody battle, the Saracens, in the 
close of the evening, returned to their camp. In the 
disorder and despair of the night, the various tribes of 
Yemen and Damascus, of Africa and Spain, were pro- 
voked to turn their arms against each other ; the remains 
of their host were suddenly dissolved, and each emir con- 
sulted his safety by a hasty and separate flight." So fled 
the Midianites, and fell on one another before Gideon and 
his three hundred; and the Philistines before Jonathan 
and his armour-bearer; and the Syrians when Israel 
was afar off. 

Mohammedanism should not have Europe. Again, 
when in full tide of successful conquest, the Saracens 
attack Italy, sail up the Tiber, ravage the country and 
besiege Rome ; on attempting to land, they are furiously 
driven back and cut to pieces. A storm scatters one- 
half of their ships, and, unable to retreat, they are either 
slaughtered or made prisoners. And again was Europe 
near falling into the hands of the Turks in the 17th cen- 
tury, (1683,) when John Sobieski, king of Poland, de- 
feated them. 



106 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

No one can take his position on this summit of his- 
torical record, without feeling that he stands on a high 
and narrow promontory between two broad seas, the one 
receding and rolling back its turgid waves over the burn- 
ing sands of Africa, with hollow murmurings of wounded 
pride and dark chagrin ; the other, placid as when the 
morning sun falls on the bosom of the peaceful ocean, its 
deep blue waves gently, though irresistibly, rolling on, 
and bearing the rich stores of grace and truth from land 
to land, 

" Till, like a sea of glory, 
It spread from pole to pole." 

We, after the lapse of centuries, occupy a position to 
appreciate the momentous and important interposition of 
Providence at this juncture, By turning back the tide 
of Mohammedanism, the way was prepared for the Re- 
formation ; that it might extend its peaceful, purifying 
influences over the wide domains of Europe, and reach 
the arms of its benevolence over the vast territories 
about to be discovered, both in the East and in the West. 
This singular interposition was by no means overlooked 
at the time. The downfall of Grenada sent a thrill of 
joy throughout all Christendom, which echoed back in 
" te deums" from every corner of Spain and Portugal, 
from England, from Rome, and from the whole Christian 
world. Infidelity was forced to exclaim — " Behold, what 
hath God wrought f" 

2. Another event, which carried with it momentous 
consequences in relation to Christianity, and challenges 
our admiration, is the transfer of the immense and popu- 
lous territories of Asia from their Romish masters to the 
hands of Protestants. 

I have alluded to a similar transfer in the early occu- 
pation of North America. The fact of the large posses- 
sions which the Portuguese gained in India, and so soon 
and so completely lost, is still more remarkable. From 
the time the Portuguese first gained a foothold in India, 
till their vast empire had fallen into the hands of the 
English, scarcely more than a single century had elapsed. 
The ultimate design of this transfer, doubtless, has not 



INDIA TRANSFERRED TO PROTESTANTS. 107 

yet transpired, yet we have seen enough already to ex- 
cite our admiration of a wonder-working Providence. 
Through the influence of Protestant England, the great 
and populous nations of the East are open to the entrance 
of the gospel. The Romish Inquisition has been silenced; 
the powerful arm of idolatry has been broken ; the 
haughty followers of the Arabian prophet have been 
humbled, and the strength of their power prostrated ; 
knowledge has been increased, and the blessings of civili- 
zation and the results of modern inventions and discov- 
eries have been introduced ; and finally, Christianity, to 
no inconsiderable extent, unfurled her mild banners over 
those lands of darkness and spiritual death ; and, pros- 
pectively, we can scarcely select an event pregnant with 
a richer harvest to the Christian church. In the singu- 
lar, and, to all human sagacity, unexpected transfer of 
those idolatrous nations from Catholic to Protestant 
hands, we distinctly discern the finger of God. " Only a 
little more than a century ago it was as likely, to all ap- 
pearance, that the Mogul empire, (or India,) would have 
passed into the hands of France, of Portugal, of Den- 
mark, of Holland, or even of Russia, as of England. But 
under the jealous despotism of Russia, or the ascendency 
of a Romish power, India would have been closed against 
the missionary." We cannot, therefore, too much ad- 
mire that special Providence which has given almost 
the entire heathen world, India, China, Birmah, Austral- 
asia, and many of the islands of the sea, into the hands 
of the only Protestant nation " capable of efficiently dis- 
charging the high mission of genuine Christianity 
throughout the East." 

3. The long and bloody war which Spain about this time 
waged against Holland and the Low Countries, (1559) 
supplies another illustration. Philip II., Emperor of 
Spain, was a bigoted, cruel, intolerant Catholic. Hus- 
band of Mary, the bloody queen of England, and imbued 
with a like spirit, he worried out the saints of the _ Most 
High, by tortures the most barbarous, and deaths the 
most cruel. When he had " hung and burnt" as many 
as fell under the cognizance of inquisitorial vigilance in 
Spain, Piedmont, Milan, and Calabria, he directed his 



108 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

parental regard towards his German possessions. Hol- 
land and the Low Countries became the prey of this ra- 
vening wolf. Here the seeds of the Reformation had been 
profusely sown and taken deep root. Philip determined 
to exterminate the rising heresy by a blow. But mark 
the end of his madness. See what God brought out of 
it : how he made the wrath of man to praise him, and 
restrained the remainder. 

This religious despot resorted to the most violent mea- 
sures to crush the rising germs of religion and liberty in 
that part of his empire. He set up the Inquisition, aug- 
mented the number of Bishops, and enacted the most 
severe and barbarous laws against all innovators in mat- 
ters of religion. And when a persecuted people rose to 
repel these invasions on all right and conscience, the 
Duke of Alva, of bloody memory, was sent with a pow- 
erful army to quell the rebellion. A protracted and san- 
guinary war followed — on the one side for liberty, on the 
other for civil and religious despotism. But was liberty 
crushed — was the hated heresy of the Reformation exter- 
minated ? The issue was the establishment of one of the 
most powerful Protestant States in Europe, the United 
Provinces of the Netherlands. 

Nor was this all that Providence brought out of it. 
Protestant England was drawn into the conflict. This 
led to those collisions in America, which broke the power 
of the Spanish yoke there, and, instead of the iron reign 
of Rome over all the western world, the way was pre- 
pared for the empire of liberty and Protestantism. And 
there was yet another issue : Philip, chagrined under his 
repulses in the Netherlands, determined on a grand onset 
upon England, which, while it should revenge on Queen 
Elizabeth for the aid she had lent the Hollanders in their 
late defence of the principles of the Reformation, should 
reduce England again to the domination of Rome. 

This brings us to another of those grand interpositions 
of Providence in behalf of his adopted cause, viz : 

4. The destruction of the Invincible Armada of Spain. 
Philip meditated signal vengeance on England. For this 
purpose he fitted out the most formidable naval armament 
that ever rode on the ocean. The project was no less 



INVINCIBLE ARMADA. 109 

than the complete subjugation of England and the estab- 
lishment of the religion of Rome throughout all Europe. 
The crisis of Protestantism had come. Should England 
— should the rising colonies of this New World — should 
all Europe and Asia smile under the benign auspices of 
the cross, or groan beneath the usurpations of Rome? 
The vast empire of Philip was roused to strike a fatal 
blow. The noise of preparation sounded in every part of 
his dominions. " In all the ports of Sicily, Naples, Spain, 
and Portugal, artizans were employed in building vessels 
of uncommon size and force ; ' naval stores collected ; 
provisions amassed ; armies levied ; and plans laid for 
fitting out such a fleet as had never before been seen in 
Europe. Ministers, generals, admirals, men of every craft 
and name were employed in forwarding the grand design. 
Three years elapsed in the stupendous preparations. Who 
could doubt that such preparations, conducted by officers 
of such consummate skill, would finally be successful ? 
Confident of success, and ostentatious of their power, they 
had already denominated this armament the Invincible 
Armada. 

The time for the actual invasion drew near. Troops 
from all quarters were assembling; from Italy, Spain, 
Flanders, Austria, the Netherlands, and the shores of the 
Baltic. One general burst of enthusiasm pervaded every 
nook and corner of the empire. Princes, dukes, nobles, 
men of all ranks and conditions, equally embarked their 
fortunes, lives, and honors, in an enterprise so promising 
of wealth and glory, and so calculated to engage their 
religious enthusiasm. And further to cherish the general 
infatuation, the Pope had fulminated a fresh bull of ex- 
communication against Elizabeth, declared her deposed, 
dissolved her subjects from their oath of allegiance, and 
granted a plenary indulgence to all who should engage in 
the invasion. All were elated with the highest hopes of 
success. And who could doubt that in a few short weeks 
English power would be prostrate, and English Protest- 
antism no more ? But follow on a little, and behold the 
Hand of Him who keepeth Israel as the apple of his eye. 

This formidable armament had been consigned to the 
command of the Marquis of Santa Croce, a sea officer of 

10 



110 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

great reputation and experience ; — and who should dare 
whisper a doubt that such an armament, under such a 
commander, should not annihilate the Reformed Religion 
from the face of the earth. But mark its progress. The 
moment the Invincible Armada is ready for sea, the ad- 
miral is seized with fever, and dies. And by a singular 
concurrence the vice-admiral meets the same fate. The 
fleet is delayed. England gains time. An inexperienced 
admiral is appointed. The fleet sails (1588) — the next 
day meets a violent tempest which "scatters the ships — 
some are sunk, and others compelled to put back into 
port. Again they are all at sea, and are descried approach- 
ing the shores of England, with fresh hopes in the prose- 
cution of their enterprise. The English admiral sees the 
Armada, "coming full sail towards him, disposed in the 
form of a crecent, and stretching the distance of seven 
miles from the extremity of one division to that of the 
other." Never had so mighty a fleet rode J;he ocean be- 
fore, and never, perhaps, the confidence of man so positive 
of success. Protestantism was, in anticipation, annihilated. 
These vessels brought the implements of torture by which 
the stern heretics of England were to pay the price of 
their defection from Rome. The writer has seen, in 
Queen Elizabeth's armory in the Tower of London, the 
thumb- screws, fetters, battle-axes, boarding-pikes, and 
the invincible banner, which were taken as spoils from the 
Armada. 

But behold the hand of God here. Just as the lion, 
sure of his prey, was about to pounce on the lamb, 
Heaven interposes. The Lord of armies fought for his 
own cause. The firmness and courage of the English 
were less remarkable than the temerity and confusion of 
the enemy. The elements fought for the righteous cause. 
The fire, the wind and tempest were so many angels of 
death to the boasted invincibility of the Spaniards. The 
destruction of this vast and formidable armament was 
effected almost without human agency. Deus flavit et 
dissipantur. 

The visionary scheme of Philip vanished like the sum- 
mer's cloud. Never was a project more wisely planned ; 
never preparations more ample, or hopes of success 



PAPAL COALITION. Ill 

raised higher. Very slight obstacles were anticipated to 
the landing of the entire invading army on the coasts of 
England ; and it was confidently expected that a single 
battle would decide the fate of England and of Protest- 
antism forever. Yet Heaven does not permit a single 
Spaniard to step foot on English soil — the invaded sus- 
tain but slight damage or loss in any way, while in a very 
little time the ocean is strewed with the mangled corpses 
of their proud invaders, and with the wrecks of their 
noble vessels. 

We have here another of those pivots on which the 
destiny of evangelical religion often turns. In all human 
probability, from this time forward, English greatness and 
English influence and power in her vast empire over the 
world, would be engaged to uphold Rome and the Inqui- 
sition — that her coal and iron, and her skill, would forge 
chains to bind immortal mind over one half of the globe 
— that her vast enterprise would be employed in the traf- 
fick of the souls of men. But Heaven had not so decreed. 
The eternal King had not yet yielded his right of empire 
on earth. A thrill of joy and thanksgiving now pervades 
every resting-place of Protestantism throughout the 
world. God had gotten the victory. They " sing unto 
the Lord a new song : for the Lord hath done marvelous 
things for them ; his right hand and his holy arm hath 
gotten him the victory." The well-concerted schemes 
of man are confounded, his, presumptuous expectations 
disappointed, and the impenetrable decrees of Divine 
Providence in the progress of his Church, established. 

A Catholic coalition of the Irish and French against 
England in 1796 was a very similar instance of a remark- 
able interposition of Providence in behalf of the Re- 
formed Religion. A vast conspiracy had been formed in 
Ireland against the British government. Two hundred 
thousand men were in readiness for the revolt. Over- 
tures were made to the French republic for their assist- 
ance, and assurances given on the part of the Irish that 
five hundred thousand fighting men could be brought into 
the field on the arrival of the French. Hoche, the French 
General, at the head of one hundred thousand troops, 
burned with the desire to gratify his ambition in humbling 



112 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

the ancient foe of France. With twenty-five thousand 
of his troops he embarked for Ireland, flushed with the 
idea of a splendid victory. But not a Frenchman was 
permitted to step foot in Ireland. " A violent tempest 
arose immediately after the departure of the fleet ; one 
ship of the line struck on a rock, and perished ; several 
were damaged, and the fleet totally dispersed. Tem- 
pestuous weather continued the whole time the fleet was 
at sea." What escaped the violence of the elements and 
the attacks of the English, returned, broken and dispirited, 
to France. And the God of Hosts again made the winds 
and the waters his army by which to protect his cause 
from a Romish conspiracy, and to save from dismember- 
ment a great protestant nation, which, as designed by 
Providence, has been used more effectually than any 
other nation to bring to all the tribes and kindreds of the 
earth a knowledge of the gospel. # 

5. I shall pass lightly over several other events which 
illustrate not the less strikingly the same point. 

Mary, the bloody Queen of England, was a violent 
persecutor of the Protestants. Having brought to the 
block and the stake multitudes in England, Scotland and 
Wales, she reached forth her hand to vex them of Ireland. 
She had signed a commission (1588,) authorizing the per- 
secution and annihilation of all Irish heretics, which was 
committed for execution to Dr. Cole, a zealous son of 
Rome. The doctor immediately repairs to Ireland to 
execute the bloody mandate of the queen. At Chester, 
where he is to embark, he communicates to the mayor 
the nature of his errand to Ireland, at the same time 
pointing to a box, which, to use his language, contained 
" that which shall lash the heretics of Ireland." The good 
woman in the house where they were, (Elizabeth Ed- 
monds,) a friend of the Protestants, who had a brother 
in Dublin, hearing these words, was not a little troubled. 
Therefore, watching her opportunity, she opens the box, 
takes out the commission, and places in its stead a sheet of 
paper in which she had carefully wrapped a pack of cards, 
with the knave of clubs uppermost. Suspecting nothing, 

• See Alison's History of Europe. 



USURPATION OF CROMWELL. 113 

the doctor, the wind and the weather favoring, next day 
set sail for Dublin. He immediately appears before the 
lord deputy and the privy council, makes his speech, de- 
claring the nature of his commission, and presents his 
box to the lord deputy ; which, on opening, nothing ap- 
pears but a pack of cards, the knave of clubs staring his 
lordship in the face. The lord deputy and council were 
amazed, and the doctor was confounded ; yet insisted that 
he started with a commission such as he had declared. 
The lord deputy answered : " Let us have another com- 
mission, and we will shuffle the cards in the mean time." 
The doctor, chagrined, returns to England, appears at 
court, obtains another commission, but is now detained 
by unfavorable winds, and while waiting, the queen is 
called to her dread account. And thus God preserved 
the Protestants of Ireland.* "Behold, he that keepeth 
Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep." 

Again, Cromwell and Hampden are unexpectedly ar- 
rested when on the eve of joining the pilgrims in New 
England. This seemed a calamity, as they were just 
such men as the New World needed. But their deten- 
tion, though involuntary, and seemingly calamitous, was, 
as developed in their future career, the very thing which 
secured the liberties of England, dissipated the cloud 
which hung over the Huguenots of France, and the 
Albigenses of Switzerland, and changed the face of all 
England.f ■ 

Other illustrations, no less apposite, we may find in the 
detection of the famous gun-powder plot in 1605— in the 
usurpation of Oliver Cromwell in 1649 — in the English 
revolution, which brought to the throne of England 
William and Mary in 1688. 

In the first instance a desperate confederacy had been 
formed by the adherents of Popery, to destroy, at one 
blow, James I., the Prince of Wales, and both houses of 
Parliament, by the explosion of an immense quantity of 
gun-powder, which had been concealed for the purpose 
under the House of Lords. A Protestant government 

* MSS. of Sir James Ware, copied from papers of Richard, Earl of Cork— and 
found quoted by Mosheim, Vol. II, p. 42. Also, Universal History, Vol. IV., p. 278. 
t Dr. Spring's Supremacy of God among the Nations. 

10* 



Ill HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

once destroyed, they hoped to restore the power of Rome 
But the hand of the Lord interposed — the nefarious plot 
was providentially discovered/* and Protestantism still 
safe. 

Again the ark of God is in trouble in the reign of 
Charles I. The most strenuous efforts are made to bring 
about a reconciliation between England and Rome. But 
a civil war breaks out between the King and the Parlia- 
ment — Oliver Cromwell succeeds to the government, and 
the tide of Roman domination is again rolled back.f 

And again the restless emissaries of Popery combine 
to vex the Church of God. A confederacy is formed 
between James II., of England, and Louis XIV., of 
France, to crush, not only in England, but in all Europe, 
the already wide-spread heresy of the German Reformer. 
For a time they are elated with high hopes of success, 
and nothing seemed more probable than that Protestant- 
ism would soon be prostrated in the dust, if not annihi- 
lated. But was the ark in peril ? By the most unfore- 
seen incidents, James is driven from his throne, — a 
wretched, forlorn exile, in a strange land. The notable 
revolution of 1688, occurs; William and Mary, Protes- 
tant princes, are called to the throne of England ; and 
never before was the cause of the Reformation so firmly 
established in the British realm. And more than this : 
A Papist was, by the constitution, made for ever after- 
wards incapable of sitting on the throne of England ! J 

The fixing of the succession to the English throne, in 
the hands of Protestants, was itself an event of vast 
magnitude, yet greatly magnified by other providential 

• By a letter of caution sent to Lord Monteagle, that he should on a certain day ab- 
sent himself from Parliament. 

t The cannon of CromwelPs navies shook the Vatican, through the bravery of his 
admiral. Blake — Gustavus, at another time, asserts the liberties of the Protestant North 
on the field of Lutzen. And, at a later period, Bonaparte lays his sacrilegious hands 
on the Pope himself, and leads him away captive, and makes the seven hills of Rome 
tremble. 

X This dissolution continued in force, and England was divorced from Rome, and 
consequently ceased to be a Papal state, till the passage of the late Catholic Emancipa- 
tion Bill, (1833,) when the act of separation from idolatrous Rome was annulled, and 
it became again admissible that Popish kings, and Popish subjects, should again wield 
the political power of Great Britain. And here, by the way, we may trace a remarka- 
ble providence in the succession of the present royal family to the throne of Britain. 
The manner in which the Protestant branch of James VI. was preserved through the 
amiable and pious Princess, Sophia Elizabeth, daughter of James I., and brought to 
the throne while the male and Popish branch have come to nought, cannot but excite 
the admiration of every believer in an overruling Providence. 



PROTESTANT SUCCESSION. 115 

events of the same period. Death removed not a few 
. of the fiercest friends of Jacobinism and Popery, without 
which, a Protestant king could not have been seated on 
the throne of England. The French king, Louis XIV., 
died while he was yet contemplating an invasion of 
England ; the Duke of Hamliton, just as he was going 
to France, where he was preparing to favor Rome ; 
Queen Anne, " when the schemes of the party were be- 
coming mature ;" and the king of Sweden, when setting 
out for Norway, to use his influence against Britain. 

Again, the hand of God is seen in moving the heart of 
Peter the Great, of Russia, to reform his people ; to pat- 
ronize schools of learning ; to cause the Bible to be trans- 
lated into the language of the country ; commanding it 
to be kept in every household, and read by all. He was 
the hand of God to draw aside the veil of ignorance 
and superstition which had so long clouded the face of 
Russia, and to let in light, such as never shone there be- 
fore, and has not ceased to shine, though feebly, ever 
since. 

The kingdom of Prussia, too, furnishes an example 
how God so disposes of temporal power as to subserve 
the interests of His church. She has stood amidst the 
Catholic nations of Europe, as a rock in the midst of 
ocean's billows ; far in advance of them all, in the im- 
provements of life, in intellectual advancement, and in ( 
morality and religion ; a city set on a hill, casting her 
light over the accumulated darkness of many generations. 
But whence her pre-eminence ? Her history replies : 
Her infancy was cradled in the hand of Providence. 
Though rudely rocked by the vandal foot of a " seven 
years" war with the united powers of Europe, she, the 
youngest of the sisterhood of European states, soon 
attained a growth and vigor scarcely inferior to the old- 
est. Early in the fifteenth century, the emperor, Sigis- 
mond, gave the Marquisate of Bradenburg to the noble 
family of Hohenzollern. This family, in the sixteenth 
century, embraced the doctrines of the Reformation, be- 
came possessed of the Duchy of Prussia, and soon 
assumed the form, and, after many eventful struggles, in 
which the hand of God was abundantly manifested, the 



116 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

vigor and growth of an independent kingdom. And her 
present character, position and influence, — the religious 
character of her present sovereign and of her national 
institutions, afford a pleasing guarantee that God will 
not disappoint the high hopes raised by her protestant 
and providential origin, in making her the instrument of 
his power in the defence of his truth. 

Or we may quote a single instance from the history of 
the Waldenses, so prolific in providential interpositions. 
I refer to their almost miraculous return to their native 
valleys, from which they had been driven by the persecu- 
tions of Rome. The miserable remnant that survived 
the assault, were scattered among the Swiss cantons, and 
in Holland, Prussia, and the Protestant states of Germany. 
Their homes had been peopled with Romanists, and their 
native valleys garrisoned by a foreign soldiery. Several 
attempts had been made to recover them, but in vain. 
In 1689, Henri Arnaud, one of their pastors, with incredi- 
ble skill and courage, and at the head of but eight hun- 
dred brave mountaineers, forced his way back to the val- 
leys, in spite of an opposing force of ten thousand well 
disciplined and armed French troops, and twelve thou- 
sand Peidmontese. The victories they gained, the suf- 
ferings they endured, the deliverances they experienced, 
are incredible on any mere human calculations, and to 
be accounted for only on the supposition of a special 
Divine interposition. 

" Who but God inspired a destitute band of men with 
the design of entering their country, sword in hand, in 
opposition to their own prince, and to the king of France, 
then the terror of all Europe ? Who but He, conducted 
and protected them in this enterprise, and finally crowned 
it with success, in spite of the vast efforts of those pow- 
ers to disconcert it, and the vows of the Pope and his 
adherents to support the papal standard, and to destroy 
this little band of the elect ?" 

But why multiply examples ; history is full of them. 
The Diet of Augsburg, (1530,) closes with full power 
and determination on the part of Rome, to put down by 
violence the Protestant cause. Rome had the power, 
and the Imperial arm was just raised to execute it. But 



REFORMATION IN ENGLAND. 117 

mark the signal interposition of Providence. A war 
breaks out with Turkey ; Charles and Francis get at 
loggerheads ; the Duke of Mantua will not suffer a gen- 
eral council to be called in his city. All these events 
divert vengeance from the Protestants, and give them 
time for growth and strength. The wars of Charles V., 
and Francis L, are made to contribute to the cause of 
the Reformation, by having in their armies Protestant 
soldiers, who propagated the truth wherever they went. 
Not a few prominent reformers, especially in Italy, 
received their lessons of reform from this source. This 
same puissant Emperor Charles, allows a single, defence- 
less Monk, (Martin Luther,) to pass unharmed, — hated 
and doomed, yet so unmolested as not to be retarded in 
his great work. Henry VIII., of England, a cruel and 
superstitious king, a decided enemy of the Reformation, 
which he opposed by his arms and his pen, executes the 
plans of Providence, by shaking off the yoke of Rome. 
He did it to satiate his voluptuousness and ambition. 
God allowed him to do it, gloriously to subserve the cause 
of His truth. At the same time, Clement VII., to main- 
tain some chimerical rights of the clergy, by hurling the 
thunders of the Vatican against Henry, lost all England, 
by the very means he adopted to retain her. # Rome 
again thought to increase the power of her church in 
Germany, by the scandalous traffick of Tetzel ; God made 
that traffick the occasion of the outbreaking of the pent- 
up fires of Reform, which were burning and heaving just 
beneath the surface. And Rome again thought to smother 
Protestantism in the blood of the Inquisition ; God 
made the Inquisition a principal cause of the Reformation 
in the United Provinces. During the persecution in 
England, under bloody Mary, the Puritans flee to Geneva ; 
are there brought in contact with the great Calvin, and 

* On what a slender thread the Reformation in England, at one period, hung. Henry 
VIII., had effected a divorce of Queen Katheririe, — had exasperated the Pope, who 
finally proposed, if Henry would by proxy acknowledge his authority, he would sanc- 
tion the divorce.' Henry consented. The Pope being informed of this, delayed to pro- 
ceed against Henry, up to a certain day named. It was winter ; the traveling uncer- 
tain ; the messenger, (Henry's proxy,) was delayed. A respite was pleaded for, but 
denied by the Pope ; and the cardinals, hurrying through Henry's case, decided against 
the divorce, and thus throw down the gauntlet, which ended in severing England, 
and the English church, from Rome. The next day the messenger arrived ; but all 
was over. One day earlier, and England had remained a province of Rome. 



118 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

become instructed more perfectly in the great principles 
o( the Bible, by that eminent scholar and servant of God. 
These were the principles which these same Puritans 
brought to New England, and which lie at the foundation 
of all the distinguishing blessings of New England. But 
for the schooling of the Puritans for a time at Geneva, 
New England, and the religion and republicanism of New 
England, would have been another and an inferior thing. 

I shall name but one other instance : it is the raising 
up, in the seventeenth century, such a constellation of 
great and good men, for the defence and establishment of 
the truth. In nothing, perhaps, are the footsteps of 
Providence more distinctly marked than in providing and 
fitting men for the times. Every great event, we see, 
has its master-spirit ; every age, its controlling genius. 
And in the choice and preparation of these controlling 
spirits, the .Hand of God is especially manifest. The 
Jewish economy could not be founded without an Abra- 
ham, nor the nation be delivered from bondage, and con- 
solidated into a state, and brought under law, without a 
Moses ; or conducted into Canaan, and settled there, 
without a Joshua ; or restored, and the temple re-built 
after the discomfiture of the Babylonish captivity, with- 
out an Ezra and Nehemiah. There must be a Paul to 
give impulse, extension and permanency to Christianity ; 
a Luther to act as the ruling spirit of the Reformation ; a 
Cromwell, a Constantine, a Wilberforce, a Washington, 
to give impulse, unity and direction to the several great 
events in which, and for which they lived. In all such 
instances, there is indeed a " multitude of hearts beating, 
and a multitude of hands employed, for the accomplish- 
ment of the respective objects ; and yet there was not a 
pulsation, nor a movement, but the ruling spirit animated 
and directed it."* Those great men were the primary 
agents, raised up for the very purpose ; and we cannot 
doubt that He who made them such, made them in refer- 
ence to the work he had for them to do. 

Perhaps no century was more remarkable in this 
respect than the seventeenth. That was an age of great 

• Dr. Sprague's sermon on Dr. Chalmers. 



PRESERVATION OF THE CHURCH. 110 

men, — especially of great authors, for the defence of the 
truth. And the Hand of God here appears, especially 
in connection with the fact that this century stood in 
special need of such authors. 

Protestantism was yet young, and knew not its strength, 
or the rich and varied stores on which it should feed. 
Truth was now to adorn her in a new and richer dress. 
The mine was to be opened deeper, and more of its 
invaluable treasures to be discovered and brought into 
use. And were there men adequate to such a work ? 
There were giants in those days, — men mighty in word 
and in deed. Take from the long catalogue the follow- 
ing, as specimens : Lightfoot, Poole, Owen, Bunyan, 
Baxter, Flavel, Calamy, Howe, Bishop Burnet, Cudworth, 
Stillingfleet, Prideaux, Lock, Lloyd and Territin. 

Or, as specimens of profane writers who essentially 
promoted the cause of Christianity by advancing science 
and learning, we may take such men as Archbishop 
Usher, Hervey, John Selden, Clarendon, Sir Matthew 
Hale, John Locke and Robert Boyle.* 

Indeed, I may say, in a word, all veritable history is 
but an exponent of Providence ; and it cannot but inter- 
est the mind of intelligent piety, to trace the mighty 
hand of God in all the changes and revolutions and inci- 
dents of our world's history. All are made, beautifully, 
to subserve the interests of the Church ; all tend to the 
furtherance of the one great purpose of the Divine mind, 
the glory of God in the redemption of man. 

The inference forced on us from the foregoing is, that 
the preservation of the church, amidst all the changes and 
revolutions of nations, and the stern and constant opposi- 
tion of her enemies, is a standing providence, which the 
people of God can never cease more and more to admire. 
Often has the whole civil authority of the world been 

* Robert Boyle was one of the most learned men of his age : but this is not what 
immortalizes his name in the annals of Christianity. He was the first Governor of the 
" Society for Propagating the Gospel in New England. 53 He instituted public lectures 
for the defence of Christianity ; manifested an unquenchable zeal for the diffusion of 
the gospel in India and in America, and among the native Welch and Irish ; made 
munificent donations for the translation of the Scriptures into Malay, Arabic, Welch 
and Irish, and of Elliot's Bible into the language of the Massachusetts Indians, and for 
other religious books ; and lastly, a legacy of £ 5,400 for the propagation of Christianity 
among the heathen. To his stern religious principles, he united the purest morals, a 
rare modesty and active benevolence. 



120 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

confederated against her; often has she been brought 
to the brink of ruin; and often have great kings and 
mighty kingdoms rejoiced over her supposed complete 
overthrow ; yet, she has stood ; she has weathered 
storms the most violent ; withstood billows the most an- 
gry, for near six thousand years. When Moab, and Am- 
nion, and Edom were mighty, she was weak ; yet she 
lived to see them all in ruins. When Babylon and Nin- 
eveh towered to heaven in their greatness and pride, she 
was as nothing in their sight ; yet Babylon and Nineveh 
fell in undistinguished ruin, but she rose and triumphed 
over their ashes. The monarchies of Persia, and Greece, 
and Rome, rose and successively spread themselves over 
the earth, and defied all human, if not all divine power, 
to bring them down from their towering height. The 
church was a thing despised, and nothing counted of; 
yet she lived and prospered, and waved the banner of 
her victory over their ruins ; and this, too, in spite of all 
their power, oftentimes employed for her destruction. 
The Christian church, in her beginning, took root and 
spread in despite of all the civil authority of the world. 

Often did the Roman government set itself, in good 
earnest, to extirpate her, root and branch, from the earth. 
And under the tenth and last persecution, they boasted 
that their design was accomplished ; the church was ex- 
tinct. Yet their boast is scarcely uttered, before the 
Christian church rises triumphant over the Roman Em- 
pire, and that empire itself falls to ruin. Again, how 
completely the voice of piety is suppressed, and her very 
existence seems annihilated previous to the Reformation 
in the sixteenth century ; yet, soon we see her rising in 
all her pristine strength and glory, and kings again bow 
down to her, while the vaunting powers of Rome, under 
imperial auspices, avail nothing. Philip II. of Spain, 
Bloody Mary of England, and Louis XIV. of France, in 
persecutions of exquisite cruelty and unwonted virulence, 
each, m turn, raise their puissant arms to sweep Protest- 
antism from the earth. Yet the church of God moves 
on — through blood, through fire and faggots, purified, in- 
vigorated, enlarged, in proportion to the madness of their 
folly and guilt. Again, Julian, the apostate, Voltaire, 



MONARCHIES AND INFIDELS OVERTHROWN. 121 

Paine, rise up in their wrath, to put down Christianity- 
single handed. Yet she heeds their invectives as the 
moon did the barking of the petty cur. She moves on in 
her majesty, while they die in agony and shame, and 
their names become a stench in the whole earth. 

Surely the hand of the Lord has held the ark. He has 
conducted it thus far, and will not forsake it now. He 
has reproved kings for her .sake, saying : " Touch not 
mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm." 

The Lord's portion is his people :— to lead them in a 
" waste, howling wilderness ;" to instruct them ; to keep 
them as the apple of his eye, is the sleepless care of the 
God of Jacob. And if, like the eagle that " stirreth up her 
nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her 
wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings," the 
Lord, sometimes, by the sterner dispensations of his provi- 
dence, rouses his people from their sloth, and teaches 
them to direct their reluctant souls heavenward, he is 
none the less mindful of their eternal well-being. 

Let it, then, be our chief concern that we be reconciled 
to God ; that our discordant spirits be hushed into har- 
mony with the Spirit that controls all events in this wide 
universe according to his sovereign will. And then, 
though his chariot wheels roll on in their resistless course, 
we shall not be crushed, but, drawn by the sweet influ- 
ences of everlasting love, our spirits shall find rest from 
every sorrow, and rest in God forever. 

11 



CHAPTER VII. 

€!od in Modern Missions.— Their early history. Benevolent societies. The Mora- 
vians. — English Baptists' society. Birmah Missions. David Bogue and the London 
Missionary Society. Captain James Wilson and the South Sea Mission. The tradi- 
tion of the unseen God. — Success. Destruction of Idols.— Gospel brought to Ru- 
rutu— Aitutaki— Rarotonga— Mangaia— Navigators' Islands. 

u And I saw another angel fiy in the midst of heaven, having 
the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earthy 
and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people" Rev. 
xiv. 6. 

This angel is believed to prefigure the progress of the 
gospel, under the auspices of modern missions, The fig- 
ure is sublime and apt. High in the air, where his 
course is unobstructed by mountain, lake, sea or desert, 
he moves majestically on, as if to extend his flight around 
the world. Nothing impedes his course. In trumpet 
tones he proclaims pardon to a rebel world. The dwell- 
ers on the mountains and in the vales, the inhabitants of 
the isles, hear the joyful sound, and respond in heart-felt 
melody as they receive the law of their God. The tur- 
baned tribes of India, they that traverse the wide wastes 
of Africa, or inhabit the eternal snows of the poles, wel- 
come the glad tidings, and praise Him who sitteth on the 
throne, and the adorable Lamb. As the angel speeds 
his flight, encompassed in a halo of celestial radiance, 
and scattering in his train the royal gifts of heaven, 
earth's remotest ends echo to the glad sounds of salva- 
tion by God's dear Son. 

Such is the auspicious event symbolized by the flight 
of the angel. It would be a delightful anticipation to 
dwell on the glory and felicity of such a period ; when 
sin shall no more invade the peaceful bosom of man ; 
tears flow no more ; men no longer hate and devour one 
another ; fraud, oppression, wrong, be known no more : — 
righteousness shall reign ; purity and peace triumph, and 
the earth be full of the glory of the Lord. But this 
would be to leap with mighty strides to that glorious goal 



GOD IN MODERN MISSIONS. 123 

towards which the lines of Providence I am tracing are 
all converging. We must linger a little longer in the 
outer court, and see how the stately structure of the tem- 
ple is reared. 

In preceding chapters, a variety of historical events 
have been made to illustrate the hand of God as stretched 
out to extend and protect his Zion. An immense pre- 
paratory work was doing in three of the great quarters 
of the globe. In America, a nation of Protestants was 
growing into manhood, and preparing, as a young man, 
to run a race ; the church being founded on a more spir- 
itual basis, was more free from political, social, and intel- 
lectual trammels than since the days of the apostles. In 
Asia, a great Christian and protestant empire was erect- 
ing in the very heart of idolatry ; while in Europe, a 
brilliant succession of events were transpiring, all tending 
to make room for the reformed church, and the doctrines 
of the cross. The Moors were driven out of Spain, and 
thus the burning tide of Mohammedanism, which had so 
long threatened to roll its fiery floods over all Europe, 
was turned back on the deserts of Africa. Queen Mary, 
of bloody memory, is foiled in some of her most cruel 
devices to exterminate from her dominions the religion of 
Luther and of the cross. The mad attempt of Philip II. 
of Spain, to bind the chains of spiritual despotism on the 
half protestant people of Holland and the low countries, 
results in the establishment of one of the most powerful 
protestant states in Europe. The proud, presumptuous 
attempt of the same bigoted prince to subjugate England 
to the yoke of catholic Spain and the more galling yoke 
of Rome, is signally frustrated in the destruction of the 
Spanish " Invincible Armada." Cromwell and Hampden 
are providentially arrested when on the eve of joining the 
pilgrims in New England, and thus the whole face of 
things in England and in Europe is changed in reference 
to the reformed church. The gun-powder plot is discov- 
ered just in time to save a protestant government from 
being buried in one common ruin. The revolution of 
1688 brings to the throne of England the protestant 
princes, William and Mary, just in time to rescue the 
periled cause of the reformed religion from the confede- 



124 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

rated malice of James II. and Louis XIV., who now 
seemed about to crush it forever. Peter the Great unex- 
pectedly becomes the defender of the faith in the Rus- 
sias ; and a rare constellation of great and good men, 
theologians, expositors, controversialists, historians, phi- 
losophers, logicians, orators and poets rise at this period, 
such as never appeared in the world before, men mighty 
in word and in deed, to develop the doctrines of the Re- 
formation and to defend its truths. And to this list I 
may add the American and French Revolutions of the 
eighteenth century ; the one of which secured to reformed 
Protestantism a free and a better soil on which to strike 
deep her roots and spread wide her branches ; and the 
other struck a heavy blow on Papacy in Europe, and de- 
creed that man should be free. 

But to what point of convergency were the lines of 
Providence now tending? If I mistake not, all these 
events were but fledging the wings of the angel who was 
soon to commence his flight, preaching the everlasting 
gospel — preparatory steps to that system of efforts which 
has been devised, and is in progress for the conversion of 
the world to God. 

I am now prepared to point out the hand of God in the 
progress of Christianity as seen in the origin and success 
of Modern Missions, 

The early history of missions to the heathen every 
where bears marks of providential interposition. We 
have seen how the ever busy and wisely guiding Hand 
has prepared the way for the flight of the angel. We 
shall now see how he was, in the commencement of his 
flight, borne aloft on the wings of the same never-failing, 
sleepless Providence. 

Special providences, in the origin of modern benevolent 
societies, and corresponding providential movements in the 
different portions of the world where these associations 
are destined to act, first challenge our admiration. And 
nothing here is more remarkable than the spontaneous 
and almost simultaneous up-shooting of a numerous con- 
stellation of benevolent associations at this particular 
period. Within the space of forty years (1792 — 1831,) 
there arose, from the kindly influences of a preceding 



ORIGIN AND SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 125 

age, more than forty charitable institutions, half of which 
are missionary institutions, and the other half auxiliaries 
to the same great work. Whether or not we may be 
able to trace any striking interpositions of Providence in 
the origin of particular associations, the hand of God is 
abundantly manifested in bringing into existence, at 
nearly the same time, such a beautiful and potent array 
for the moral conquest of the world. 

The whole early history of Moravian missions, the 
earliest of modern missions, is a record of interesting 
providences. Two young Greenlanders are providen- 
tially brought to Copenhagan — come to the notice of 
the Moravian brethren — their history and condition is 
searched out, (for true benevolence has many eyes, and 
is fledged with angels' wings,) and a mission is immedi- 
ately determined upon. Hence the origin of Moravian 
missions. 

That a congregation, not exceeding six hundred per- 
sons in all, and most of them exiles from their native land, 
and poor, should originate the idea of missions to Green- 
land, to the West Indies, to Labrador, to America, to Af- 
rica, and Asia, is, of itself, sufficiently providential to en- 
list our admiration. But that they should, from genera- 
tion to generation, amidst incredible hardships and praise- 
worthy self-denial, sustain these missions, is still more to 
be admired. A volume would scarcely detail the all but 
miraculous interpositions of Providence in behalf of those 
missions. In the midst of extraordinary perils by sea and 
by land, from the elements and from savage men, the 
hand of God was, in a signal manner, with those devoted 
and self-denying men, who, for Christ's and the gospel's 
sake, braved the eternal snows of the north, or scorched 
beneath the broiling sun of the equator. Oft did they 
encounter famine, pestilence, shipwreck, and distressing 
extremes of heat and cold ; and the Lord delivered them 
out of them all. When we take into the account the 
fewness of their number, their circumscribed ability, and 
the humbleness of their condition, the Moravians stood on 
an enviable pre-eminence in the work of missions. Here, 
emphatically, God ordained strength out of weakness, 
making bare his own arm, and showing to the nations 

11* 



126 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

that He can conquer by the few or the many : David 
with his sling, single-handed, against Goliath. 

A better day was dawning on the church. This little 
star which rose and shed its placid light over the dark 
waters of Paganism, was the precursor of a constellation 
that should soon rise and shine brighter and brighter till 
the whole earth should be radiant with their light. 

Next in order rose the Baptist missionary society of 
England. It was not an orphan — it was the child of 
Providence. Its origin is worthy of note. An unwonted 
spirit of prayer prevails. Knew thought enters the mind 
of one of the ministers met in association at Nottingham, 
in 1784. It is that one hour, on the first Monday evening 
of every month, should be devoted to prayer for the revi- 
val of religion, and the extension of the Redeemer's king- 
dom throughout the earth. Here commenced the monthly 
meeting for prayer ; and here a series of the most brilliant 
conquests over the empire of darkness. Carey, the pio- 
neer of missions to India, was now brought to light, and 
the subject of the world's conversion began to be a topic 
of public discussion. The novel idea was now broached, 
to form a society to send out a mission ; and, after a little 
time, it was matured and realized, with a fund of £13 2s. 6d. 
Yet they had neither experience, nor a knowledge of any 
country where they might expect an open door for the 
gospel ; nor had they the men prepared to go forth on 
this untried enterprise. 

But Providence had devised the great plan, and would 
now reveal it. While these things were transpiring in 
England, a corresponding part of the scheme was ma- 
turing in India. About the time that prayer began to be 
offered up for the conversion of the world, and the 
monthly meeting for this purpose was established, a sur- 
geon, by the name of John Thomas, leaves England for 
Calcutta. The Lord stirs up his heart to attempt the 
spiritual benefit of the natives. Though unsuccessful in 
the attempt, his own heart becomes interested in the 
things of religion, and he was, on his return to England, 
baptized in 1785. He returns to India, gains more knowl- 
edge of the country and the condition of the heathen, and 
feels more than ever solicitous for their spiritual welfare. 



BAPTIST AND LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETIES. 127 

In him Providence had provided the newly organized so- 
ciety with just such a helper and guide as they needed. 
Thomas being in London at the time referred to, is at once 
solicited to engage under the auspices of the society in 
the establishment of a mission in Bengal. And to what 
stately dimensions and vigor, and beneficent activity this 
child of Providence has since attained, all know who are 
acquainted with the history of the English Baptist Mis- 
sionary Society. 

And the American Baptist Mission in Birmah may 
claim paternity in the same Providence. Two missiona- 
ries while on their way to India, under the direction of 
the A. B.C. F. M., became Baptists ; are naturally thrown, 
on their landing in Calcutta, among the English Baptist 
Mission ; fall under their auspices, and as far as provi- 
dential interposition and direction are concerned, may be 
regarded as a branch of the English Mission. 

Nor can we but admire the wonder- workings of Provi- 
dence as He wrought in the minds of Judson and Rice, 
and, by changing their views on a certain Christian rite, 
created, in some remote spot on the ocean, the germ of 
the American Baptist Missionary Society, roused that 
great and growing denomination to engage in the work 
of missions to the heathen, which they have since prose- 
cuted with much energy and with signal success. 

But look from another point; the formation of the 
London Missionary Society. The set time to enlarge 
Zion's boundaries had come. The angel had commenced 
his flight. Some ten years after the formation of the 
Baptist society, (1797,) the Rev. David Bogue, of Gos- 
port, visits Bristol, to preach in one of Whitefield's taber- 
nacles. But there was nothing remarkable in this. He 
had preached there many times before. But now, in the 
parlor of the tabernacle house, he first broaches the idea 
of uniting Christians of different denominations in an 
association for the spread of the gospel. The thought 
.was contagious — as the leaven in the meal. Many a pious 
mind caught the idea. Circulars were sent out ; ad- 
dresses made ; sermons preached ; private conversations 
and correspondence maintained ; the latent spirit of mis- 
sions, which had for ages slept in the church, is now 



128 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

roused ; a society is organized ; funds promptly raised, 
and an auspicious commencement made on the islands 
of the Pacific. 

But we shall be able to discern the finger of God more 
distinctly, if we allow the eye to pass cursorily over some 
of the particular missions of this Board. We may, at 
the very outset, record one of those interesting provi- 
dential interpositions on which the eye of confiding piety 
delights to dwell. The first corps of missionaries were 
ready to embark ; and a missionary ship, the Duff, was 
ready to convey them. But who should command it ? 
They needed a skillful, wise, benevolent man, a con- 
trolling mind, who should come to the aid of the society 
at this crisis. Such was Capt. James Wilson. His 
eventful life in the East Indies had more, perhaps, than 
that of any man living, singled him out as an object of 
God's peculiar care ; a chosen vessel, and a valued in- 
strument in his work among the Gentiles. 

The life of Wilson is a beautiful illustration of our 
subject : while engaged in an important and perilous ser- 
vice for the East India Company in their war with 
Hyder Ally, he was taken prisoner by the French; 
escaped from his prison by leaping from a wall forty 
feet high; swam the Coleroon river, an attempt ac- 
counted by the natives as certain death, on account of 
the multitude of alligators which infest it ; was seized by 
some of Hyder Ally's peons ; stripped ; his hands tied 
behind his back, and he barbarously driven to head quar- 
ters. From thence, chained to a common soldier, he was 
driven, naked, barefoot and wounded, a distance of five 
hundred miles. Loaded with ponderous chains, he was 
now thrown into a prison, known as the Black Hole. 
Here he suffered incredible hardships from hunger, suffo- 
cation and excessive heat. Often a corpse was unchained 
from his arm in the morning, that a living sufferer might 
take its place. Amid such accumulated misery, he was 
preserved for twenty-two months. Emaciated, naked, 
famished and covered with ulcers, he was liberated. 
Yet in all this, he acknowledged not the hand that pre- 
served him. 

He was afterwards successful in business, accumula- 



PIETY AND BENEVOLENCE OF WILSON. 129 

ted a fortune, and returned to England in the same vessel 
in which Mr. Thomas of the Baptist Mission, (mark the 
hand of God here,) was passenger. Mr. Thomas often 
urged on his mind the great truths of religion, though 
apparently to little effect. Yet the eye of God was on 
him. He was a chosen vessel. Retired from foreign 
service to affluence and ease, he revelled in all the pleas- 
ures and gratifications which fortune and friends could 
bestow. Yet in the midst of his enjoyments, a series of 
the most interesting incidents became the means of his 
conversion to a life of godliness. He became an eminent 
and devoted Christian. A magazine falls into his hands 
about this time, communicating an incipient plan of a 
mission to the South Sea Islands. The suggestion imme- 
diately arises in his mind that here is work for him. 
Willing to sacrifice the comfort and ease of an affluent 
and dignified retirement, he gratuitously tenders his ser- 
vices in this new and benevolent enterprise, to command 
the missionary ship. For gain, he had braved the stormy 
ocean ; he will do it again for Christ. His services were 
accepted ; and the early history of the South Sea Mis- 
sion is ample voucher how much, under God, the success 
of that enterprise was indebted to the experience and 
skill, as well as to the piety and benevolence of the noble 
Wilson. 

He was raised up, and by a rigid course of discipline, 
prepared for just such an untried and daring enterprise. 
While the friends of missions where maturing the plan 
for this bold expedition on the one hand, God was, by a 
singular process, on the other, preparing one who should 
take the command in an undertaking so novel and im- 
portant. 

The voyage was prosperous. Twenty-five laborers 
were taken out, and a mission established. For sixteen 
years they sow the precious seed upon a rock. No gen- 
erous soil received it; no friendly sun or fertilizing 
shower, caused it to vegetate. They seemed to labor in 
vain. The heavens over them are brass, and the earth 
iron. Desolating wars, and abominable, cruel idolaltries, 
are the all-absorbing themes of the natives. But the day 



130 HAND OF HOD IN HISTORY. 

of deliverance is at hand — and in a manner to show that 
the hand which wrought it was the Lord's. 

The missionaries are unexpectedly driven from the 
islands by the fury of war, and their fond hopes of seeing 
their labors successful, and the cross planted in those 
regions of death, seemed completely blasted. But this 
was God's time to ivork. When the field had been 
abandoned to the ravages of war, and amidst the very 
desolations of all their expectations of success, the work 
of conversion began. The good seed of the word had, 
unknown to the missionaries, taken deep root in the 
minds of tw r o domestics who had been employed in their 
family. Though "buried long in dust/' the eye of Prov- 
idence watched it, and would not suffer the precious 
seed to be lost. Others gathered around these first fruits, 
earnests of a glorious harvest. The wars ceased ; the 
missionaries returned ; and what must have been their 
joy and astonishment, to be welcomed back by a large 
company of praying people ! # They had now only to 
cast the seed as profusely as they could, into a soil pre- 
pared to their hands. 

There is, too, a beautiful counterpart to this signal 
Providence. While these things are transpiring at the 
islands, a dark cloud of discouragement gathers over the 
society at home. Years of fruitless toil had elapsed, and 
the Directors entertained serious thoughts of abandoning 
the mission altogether. This disheartening resolution 
was overruled by the determinate friendship and muni- 
ficence of Dr. Haweis, and the irretractable attachment 
to the enterprise of the Rev. Matthew Wilks. The mis- 
sion was sustained. Letters of encouragement were 
written to the Islands ; and what is worthy of remark, 
while these letters were on their way, they were passed by 
a ship conveying to England not only the news of the 
overthrow of Idolatry, but the rejected idols themselves. 

Nor should we here overlook another Providence in 
the auspicious commencement of this mission. The 
shock of an earthquake is felt in Tahiti, a thing, till then, 
unknown to the Tahitians. This creates no little alarm, 

* Williams' Missionary Enterprises in the South Sea Islands. 






SUCCESS OF MISSIONS IN TAHITI. 131 

and gives rise to many conflicting opinions as to the 
meaning of such a phenomenon. At length, an old chief 
rehearses to the people a tradition which existed on the 
island, viz. : that there is an unseen God, and that stran- 
gers would, at some period, visit the island to tell them 
about this Being. In his opinion, he said, the earthquake 
was caused by this unseen God, and that the men who 
should tell them about him, must be near at hand. In a 
few days a strange sail is seen standing into the bay. It 
was the Duff, Capt. James Wilson, with the first mission- 
aries for Tahiti. 

The destruction of their idols was the beginning of a 
series of successes which, for more than forty years, have 
blessed those numerous groups of islands, so that, within 
two thousand miles of Tahiti, the radiating point of light 
in those dark seas, there is not a single island which has 
not been illumined by the Sun of Righteousness. Where 
will you find a parallel to this in all the annals of 
Christianity ? 

Instances like the following might be recounted to almost 
any extent. An epidemic prevails on the island of Ru- 
rutu, an island some three hundred miles south of Tahiti. 
The superstitious inhabitants, believing it to be the inflic- 
tion of some angry god, two of their chiefs determine to 
build each a large boat, and, with as many of their people 
as could be conveyed, to commit themselves to the winds 
and the waves, in search of some happier isle. They 
feared, if they stayed, "being devoured by the gods." A 
violent storm overtakes them; one canoe yields to its 
fury, and nearly the whole crew perish ; the other is 
driven about for three weeks, over the trackless deep, 
they know not whither, in the most pitiable condition for 
the want of food and water. But an unerring hand 
guided them. They were driven to the Society Islands. 
Totally unacquainted with Christianity, or the comforts 
of civilization, these untutored savages were not a little 
astonished at the improved condition of the Society 
Islanders. Their books, schools, temporal comforts, mode 
of worship, and especially the account they now heard of 
the true God, were novel and astounding. They were 
at once convinced of the superiority and the divinity of 



132 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

the Christian religion, and believed they had been con- 
ducted here that they might become acquainted with a 
more excellent way. They became immediately inter- 
ested in the gospel ; made astonishing proficiency in 
learning, and after a few months returned to their native 
isle, accompanied, at their earnest request, by two na- 
tive missionaries, who brought light into the land of 
darkness. 

This remarkable providence not only brought to the 
notice of the mission a new island, full of benighted, im- 
mortal souls, and was the first of a series of events which 
soon added this lovely isle to the domains of Immanuel's 
empire, but in connection with this, appeared the first 
germ of the missionary spirit among the native converts 
of the South Sea Islands. Freely they had received, and 
from this time forward, freely did they give, till island 
after island, group after group, were encircled in the 
extended arms of Christian benevolence. 

The history of the South Sea Islands is a history of 
providential interpositions. Pomare, King of Tahiti, 
proposed to his assembled chiefs the adoption of Chris- 
tianity and the destruction of their idol gods. Many 
chiefs strenuously oppose. A powerful chief comes for- 
ward, accompanied by his wife. They cordially second 
the king's proposition, declaring that they had, for some 
time past, been contemplating the destruction of their 
own idols. This state of mind had been induced by the 
death of a beloved and only daughter. Having in vain 
sought help from priests and gods, by all that rich sacri- 
fices and profuse presents could avail, they were bitterly 
enraged at their gods, and ready to cast them away as 
useless. The scale now seemed turning in favor of 
Christianity ; when another occurrence threatened more 
than to balance it. Tapua, another mighty chief and a 
formidable warrior, who had conquered many islands, 
was present at this consultation, and threatened by every 
means in his power to oppose the king's proposition to 
destroy the idols. But his puissant arm was soon palsied, 
and his haughty spirit yielded to the all-conquering scythe 
of death. His timely removal left behind no formidable 
obstacle to the destruction of idolatry and the introduc- 



DESTRUCTION OP IDOLS. 133 

tion of Christianity.* But for the death of this chief, 
Christianity, it is believed, could not have been in- 
troduced. 

Who can read the record of such events, and not dis- 
cern the hand of God ? What miracles once effected, 
may now be achieved by the special interpositions of 
Providence. 

The introduction of the gospel at Aitutaki, was similar 
to that of Tahiti. The death of a chiefs daughter so 
incensed the parents against the gods, and impaired the 
confidence of the people in their aid, that they immedi- 
ately abandoned them. There is, perhaps, not a more 
marked interposition of Providence in the whole history 
of Christianity, than in the extensive and almost simul- 
taneous movements among the Pagan nations of the 
Pacific to cast away their idols and to embrace a new 
religion. 

The people of another Island — Mangaia — brutally 
abuse the first teachers sent them, and drive them from 
their shores. A disease breaks out among them, which 
spares neither age nor youth, high nor low. They be- 
lieve it to be the vengeance of the " God of the strangers;" 
and from this time they received the missionaries gladly, 
and cordially embraced the religion of the cross. 

In another instance a native Christian woman of Tahiti 
is providentially cast on the beautiful but idolatrous Island 
of Rarotonga. She speaks freely of the change which 
Christianity had produced on her native island. These 
things came to the ears of the king, and sj a consequence 
the king and royal household, the chiefs and people, were 
prepared to receive the new religion, as it was shortly 
after introduced. In another instance, a foul wind ar- 
rests the " Messenger of Peace/' (the name of the mis- 
sionary vessel,) which was bearing Mr. Williams from 
one island to another in his errands of mercy, and he is, 
much to his disappointment, and after contending in vain 
for several days with the elements, compelled to put in at 

* While the king was meditating and proposing to destroy the idol gods, the young 
man who kept them formed the bold resolution of doing the deed. A day is fixed ; 
a pile of combustibles prepared ; the people are gathered around, and the idols are 
brought out and thrown on the pile. 

12 



134 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

the Island of Mangaia. Here had been gained from the 
moral wastes of Paganism a beautiful vineyard. The 
vine brought out of Egypt had been planted here, and had 
taken some root, and began to put forth its tender branches, 
but the vandal foot of war was raised over it, and but one 
day later and the hedge would have been broken down, 
and that vine trodden under foot. The heathen chiefs 
had determined, by one decisive blow, to rid themselves 
of the whole Christian party. Mr. W., with two or three 
Christian chiefs, hastened on shore, repaired to the hostile 
chiefs, and, before the deadly attack of the morrow came, 
the raging tempest was assuaged — the war prevented. 
And the happy result was the dissolution of the league 
against the Christians, and the removal of most of the 
heathen to the Christian settlement. 

It is, indeed, a fact worthy of remark, that no consider- 
able Island in the South Seas embraced Christianity with- 
out a war, though always defensive on the part of the 
Christians. Providence here singularly interposed, dis- 
comfited the heathen, gave the victory to his people, and 
established the religion of the cross. 

I shall adduce but one illustration more : It was long in 
the heart of the indefatigable Williams, (since murdered 
and eaten by the savages,) to carry the news of salvation 
to the Navigators' or Samoa Islands. The reluctance of 
his wife dissuaded him from the enterprise. But the 
thousands of that interesting group shall not perish with- 
out the light of the Gospel. Two or three years pass, 
and the design in the mind of Williams seems to be aban- 
doned. His wife is brought by the heavy hand of God 
to suffer a protracted and severe illness. She revolves in 
her mind why the hand of God is thus laid on her, and 
what is the lesson he would have her learn. She says to 
her husband, " I freely consent to your absence in your 
contemplated visit to the Navigators' Islands." Nor was 
the hand of God less manifest in the progress than in the 
commencement of this important, and, in many respects, 
hazardous undertaking. 

They touch on their way at the Island of Tongatabu — 
an active respectable looking native presents himself, says 
he is a chief of the Navigators' Islands, and related to the 



ULTIMATE SUCCESS OF THE GOSPEL. 135 

most influential families. His assertions are corroborated ; 
and he desires and obtains a passage to his native islands 
in the mission ship, promising to do all in his power to 
favor the introduction of the gospel there. During the 
voyage he informs Mr. Williams that he need anticipate 
but one formidable obstacle to the realization of his wishes 
in relation to the Navigators' Islands : it was the violent 
opposition which might be met from Tamafainga, a kind 
of high-priest, in whom it was said "the spirit of the 
gods dwelt/' If he opposed, all further attempts would 
be vain. But they are wafted on by the favorable breeze, 
and seem soon about to land on the desired spot. But 
adverse winds blow, and a furious storm drives them from 
their course. Their sails are rent, the vessel crippled, 
and several of the men sick with influenza. All these 
things seemed against them — why could they not have 
been conveyed by that favoring breeze to the destined 
landing ? for they came on an errand of mercy, and 
Heaven is not wont to* frown on such enterprises. 

After several days painful delay they arrive, and what 
must have been their admiration of the dealings of Pro- 
vidence, when they were told that Tamafainga was dead ! 
He was killed but ten days before. The storm had de- 
tained them, that they might arrive precisely at the right 
time, to introduce the new religion. Ten days earlier, 
their efforts would have been abortive on account of the 
opposition of the high-priest. A few days later his suc- 
cessor would have been appointed, and all their attempts 
equally fruitless. 

Thus the gospel was introduced into those islands un- 
der the most favorable auspices, and followed by the most 
unprecedented success. 

But I pause for the present. To write a history of 
missionary providences would be to write a history of 
missions. 

Our subject affords a delightful assurance of ultimate 
success in all our well-directed efforts to convert the world. 
We need only to recur to the illustrations already ad- 
duced, to convey to our . minds infinite satisfaction that 
He who has begun the good work will carry it on. He 
that can make the winds, the waves, the pestilence, the 



136 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

fury of war, his ministers, can work and none can hinder. 
The Lord hath sworn and he cannot go back, that he will 
give to his Son the heathen for his inheritance, and the 
uttermost parts of the earth for a possession. The angel 
having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell 
on the face of the whole earth, has begun his glorious 
flight. Move on, thou blessed messenger of peace, till 
earth's remotest bounds shall join in the grand jubilee of 
the world's redemption. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



Modern Missions continued.— Henry Obookiah and the Sandwich Islands. Van- 
couver and the Council. Dr. Vanderkemp and South Africa. Africaner. Hand of 
God in the Origin of Benevolent Societies. Remarkable preservation of Missionaries. 

" And I savj another angel fly in the midst of Heaven, having 
the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell on the face of 
the earth." Rev. xiv. 6. 

In the last chapter, attention was directed to an inter- 
esting period in the history of Christianity. We saw the 
angel, having the everlasting gospel to preach, directing 
his adventurous flight over the broad Pacific, scattering 
blessings from his wings on the beautiful isles that sit on 
its bosom. " Truly, the isles waited, for the law of their 
God." In not a few instances, the people, in expectation 
of the missionary ship, cast away their idols, erected 
places for public worship, and waited for the coming of the 
''Messenger of Peace." It is related that in several in- 
stances, before the gospel was introduced, though ex- 
pected, " they were known to assemble at six o'clock on 
Sabbath morning, sit in silence an hour or more, and re- 
peat this a second, and even a third time, during the day." 

Before leaving this new and wide theatre on which 



HENRY OBOOKIAH. 137 

God has of late, and in a most extraordinary manner, been 
pleased to display the riches of his grace, I shall recount 
yet another instance of remarkable providential interpo- 
sition. The illustration is familiar — you will discern the 
finger of God in the tale. 

An orphan boy on one of the Sandwich Islands, of 
twelve years old, is seen escaping from a scene of the 
most disgusting carnage. He bears on his back an infant 
brother of only two months old. They are pursued • the 
infant is transfixed with a spear, while the lad is spared 
and led away the captive of war. He is the only survi- 
vor of his family. The father and mother, with these 
two boys, had, on the approach of the enemy to their 
village, fled to the mountains ; but were soon sought out 
and cut to pieces before the face of their children. Henry, 
the surviving boy, remained for some time with the man 
w T hom he had seen kill his father and his mother — is at 
length found by an uncle, who takes him to his house, and 
keeps him one or two years. Again is he, with his aunt, 
a prisoner of war — makes his escape — secretes himself at 
a little distance, whence he soon saw his aunt conducted 
from the prison to a precipice, from which she w^s thrown 
headlong, and dashed to pieces. Now alone in the world 
and disconsolate, he determines to end a miserable exist- 
ence in the same way he had seen his relative meet her 
tragic death. As soon as the enemy disappeared from 
the precipice, he approached to execute his horrid pur- 
pose. But being discovered by one of the hostile party, 
he is rescued just in time to save a life which should be 
the hand of Providence to bring life and immortality to 
light among his benighted countrymen. 

Again we find him, by some means once more restored 
to his uncle ; yet weary of life, and the last of his race, 
he never ceases to bemoan his parents. In this state of 
despondency and wretchedness, he conceives the strange 
idea of seeking an asylum in some foreign country. 

While in this state of mind an American ship arrives. 
Young Obookiah was immediately on board to seek a 
passage to America. His uncle refused to let him go, 
and shut him up in his house. But the young adventurer 

12* 



138 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

finds means to escape, and is again on board, and is 
allowed to sail. 

But mark the next link in the chain. There is on 
board this vessel a pious young man, (Russel Hubbard,) 
a student of Yale College, who becomes a friend of young 
Henry, and takes much pains to instruct him in the rudi- 
ments of learning, of which he was totally ignorant. 

After a few months we find Henry in New Haven. 
Wandering about the college yard, he attracts the atten- 
tion of E. W. Dwight, who, from this time, becomes his 
friend and teacher — is introduced into the family of Dr. 
Dwight, and finally comes to the knowledge of Samuel 
J. Mills, who takes him to his father's, in Torringford. 
Thence, after some time, he is transferred to Andover — 
becomes a Christian — lives in different places in Massa- 
chusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire — every where 
adorns a good profession — manifests a burning zeal for 
the salvation of his countrymen, and much solicitude for 
the salvation of all men. At length we find him in the 
mission school at Cornwall — the same decided, consistent 
Christian ; the industrious scholar ; the amiable compan- 
ion, ever, loved and highly respected. 

He has by this time produced a strong interest in favor 
of the Sandwich Islands. A mission thither was always 
his fond hope and the object of his unremitting toil. It 
was a much cherished idea that he might return, a mes- 
senger of peace, to his deluded countrymen ; and for this 
purpose he used all diligence to be prepared. But, strange 
dispensation of Providence ! he is cut down by the relent- 
less hand of death, before he sees one of his benevolent 
schemes for his native island executed. 

But let us pause here and mark the hand of God. The 
time of blessed visitation had come for the isles of the sea. 
The English churches had already taken of the spoil of 
their idols, and were rejoicing and being enriched by 
their conquests. The American Zion must participate 
in the honor and profit of the war. Hence Henry Oboo- 
kiah, an obscure boy, without father or mother, kindred 
or tie, to bind him to his native land, must be brought to 
our shores ; be removed from place to place, from institu- 
tion to institution, everywhere fanning into a flame the 



HIS WIDELY LAMENTED DEATH. 139 

smoking flax of a missionary spirit, and giving it some 
definite direction ; be made the occasion of rousing the 
slumbering energies of the church on behalf of the heathen, 
an3 of kindling a spirit of prayer and benevolence in the 
hearts of God's people ; and finally, and principally, his 
short and interesting career, and, perhaps, more than all, 
his widely lamented death, should originate and mature a 
scheme of missions to those islands, the present aspect of 
which presents scenes of interest scarcely inferior to those 
of the apostolic age. Behold, what a great matter a little 
fire kindleth! 

But there is another aspect in which we must view the 
pleasing interposition. While Henry Obookiah was being 
used as the hand of Providence in preparing (through Mills 
and Hall, Griffin and D wight, and others on whom his influ- 
ence bore,) the American church to engage in a plan of 
benevolent action, definitely directed towards the islands 
of the Pacific, there was a process transpiring at the 
islands still more interesting, if possible, and more strongly 
marked as the handi-work of God. Already had the decree 
passed for the destruction of idolatry, and those islands, too, 
were waiting for the law of their God. 

An incident here will illustrate. I give it as taken from 
the lips of the Rev. Mr. Richards on his late visit to this 
country. On the arrival of our first company of mission- 
aries, a consultation of the king and chiefs was held, 
whether they should be allowed to remain. Different 
opinions were advanced, supported by as different reasons. 
The second day of these deliberations had nearly closed 
without any decisive result. Now there came into the 
council the aged secretary of the late king, who had just 
returned from a neighboring island. He had long been 
a sort of chronicler of the nation. His mind, in the ab- 
sence of written documents, was a kind of historical de- 
pot. His opinion was asked, and his decision determined 
the momentous question, whether the "glad tidings of 
great joy," which had then, for the first time, reached the 
islands, should be proclaimed, or the darkness of death 
which then brooded over them become darker than before. 

Addressing the young king, he said : " what did the 
late king, your father, enjoin on you as touching these 



140 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

men who now ask your protection and a residence among 
us ?" * He left in charge nothing concerning these men," 
said the young king. " Did he not repeat to you what 
Vancouver said to him, as he looked upon our gods, Und 
pitied our folly ? — how he said that not many years would 
elapse before Englishmen would come and teach a better 
religion, and that you must protect such teachers, and 
listen to them, and embrace their religion ? Now they 
have come, and what would your father have you do 
with them ?" 

He resumed his seat ; the young king recalled the 
charge of his royal sire, and this " little matter" fixed the 
decision that opened the flood-gates of mercy to thou- 
sands of the most abject of our race, and formed the 
commencement of a successful career of benevolent ac- 
tion which shall not cease with time. Discern ye not 
the finger of God here ? 

But the history of the introduction of the gospel at the 
Sandwich Islands, is too strikingly illustrative of a super- 
intending Providence, to be passed without further detail. 
Yet the history of other missions may furnish illustrations 
no less interesting. We shall here, at every step, trace 
the foot-prints of providential interposition. 

For some time previous to the introduction of the gos- 
pel at those Islands, Providence was actively preparing 
the way for such an event. The Islands were now 
brought to the notice of civilized and Christian nations ; 
a few such men as Vancouver had visited them and done 
much to prepare the native mind favorably to receive the 
means of civil and religious renovation, when they should 
be offered ; the conflicting interests of different chiefs 
had been very much annihilated in the conquests of 
Kamehameha, who had consolidated the whole group 
under one government, and thus prepared the way for a 
national reformation. As in the days of Augustus Cesar 
and the advent of Christ, the clangor of war was hushed, 
and facilities, as at no former period, afforded for the 
spread of the truth. And, more than all, a prediction 
existed that the time drew nigh when a " communication 
should be made to them from heaven entirely different from 
any thing they had known y and that the tabus of the coun- 



REMARKABLE PRESERVATION OF KAAHUMANU. 141 

try should be destroyed!'' This singular prediction, the 
result, no doubt, of that presentiment or general expecta- 
tion which is wont to pervade the public mind on the eve 
of some great national change, did much to prepossess 
the minds of the popular mass to let go their idols, and 
accept the gospel when offered. It was the dim shadow 
of events yet hid in the dark future ; it was the still, 
small voice of God, announcing his purposes of mercy 
to these long-benighted islands. 

A few specific instances will indicate how God provi- 
ded himself with some of the chief instruments in the 
late extraordinary work at the islands, and how he re- 
moved obstacles. 

A female child is born in an obscure corner of the 
Island of Maui. Her parents, who had once basked in 
the sunshine of the royal favor, are now languishing in 
the shades of neglect, destitute and depressed. Twice, 
when an infant, was she providentially saved from drown- 
ing. Wrapped in a roll of kapa, she was laid by her 
parents on the top of a double canoe, from which, as 
tossed by the waves, she fell into the sea. The floating 
kapa being discovered in time, she was drawn as from a 
watery grave. Again, when in her childhood, being near 
the sea with her mother, she was caught by a huge wave, 
rolling suddenly in, and in its recoil carried her beyond 
her depth, and was for the moment given up for lost. 
She was now a third time rescued from the jaws of death; 
yet none but the Great Deliverer knew for what a noble 
purpose. 

It was a stormy period of Hawaiian history. Her child- 
hood was spent amidst scenes of violence and blood. A 
revolution is in progress ; a ferocious, warlike king of 
Hawaii, (Kamehameha,) gains the dominion of the 
islands ; the destinies of the family of Kaahumanu, (the 
heroine of my tale,) begin to rise. Her father being one 
of the conqueror's chief supporters, she, like the renowned 
Noor Mahal, of oriental memory, is brought to the notice 
of this western Mogul, — is numbered among his wives, 
— becomes his favorite queen, and at his death, as regent, 
holds the kingdom in trust for his son. 

While a bigoted idolater, proud, haughty, independent, 



142 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

she gave indications of possessing the elements of the 
noble character which was afterwards exhibited in the 
humble, zealous Christian, the pious Regent and the en- 
lightened philanthropist. 

To her, principally, was owing the abolition of the 
tahu system and of image worship, and to her, more than 
to any other person, was the American mission indebted 
for permission to remain on the islands after the expira- 
tion of their year's probation, and for their success. 
While yet unreclaimed from the bondage of idolatry, her 
proud, independent spirit, led her to seize the first oppor- 
tunity, (offered by the death of her late royal husband,) 
to disenthrall herself and the chief women of the nation 
from the chains and degradation of the tabu. Placed 
providentially next the throne, where she could speak 
with authority, and supported by several chief women of 
royal blood, she boldly asserted the " rights of woman, 
unrestrained by a lordly husband/' and protested against 
the unreasonable disabilities under which they had been 
placed. She demanded equal privileges with men, in re- 
spect to eating and drinking, and the termination of 
those distinctions and restraints which were felt to be 
degrading and oppressive. 

This important step gained, she had unwittingly opened 
the way for the introduction of the gospel. She favored 
the plans and wishes of the mission from the first, and 
was an efficient instrument in its establishment and in its 
progress, though not herself brought under its vital power. 
A withering sickness is at length sent upon her, and she 
seems nigh unto death. The missionaries are now afford- 
ed the opportunity to show what kindness, sympathy and 
hope, the gospel holds out to them who languish and draw 
near to death. She appreciates their sympathies and 
instructions ; seems deeply impressed ; becomes a firmer 
friend of the mission, yet is not converted. A few years 
more roll away, and we find her in a mission school ; the 
truth is gradually gaining ascendency in her mind; she 
yields to its power, and becomes a humble, lovely, decided, 
energetic Christian. 

In the mean time, by the death of the young king, she 
again becomes Regent of the kingdom, and loses no 



KAAHUMANU BECOMES A CHRISTIAN. 143 

opportunity to use her great influence, whether in the 
formation of laws, the restraint of sin, or the encourage- 
ment of virtue ; in the promotion of education; in tours 
over the islands to foster the new work of reform, or in 
her personal teachings ; and more than all, in the exam- 
ple of a pure, unostentatious, effective piety, to hasten 
the complete subjugation of her islands to the rule of 
Immanuel. 

I hazard nothing in saying, if posterity shall do justice 
to her memory, history will accord to Kaahumanu a high 
rank as a ruler, a statesman and a Christian. She lived 
and reigned in troublous times. The nation was just 
emerging from barbarism. A complete revolution was 
to be effected, from the throne to the meanest subject. 
The fountains of the great deep were broken up, and a 
new order of things was to be established in government, 
in morals and in religion ; and it is believed the annals of 
history present few persons, under the circumstances in 
which she lived and reigned, who have acquitted them- 
selves better towards man and towards God, — more 
essentially aiding the progress of Divine truth and of 
civil liberty. 

Having mentioned the death of the young king, (Liho- 
liho,) w T e are reminded of another remarkable providen- 
tial interposition, without which all the awakened ele- 
ments of reform might have been crushed in the bud. 
The young king was a wayward, unstable, dissipated 
youth, easily led astray by wicked foreigners. He prom- 
ised little as a Reformer of the nation, — was likely to 
prove a formidable obstacle. But what a singular inter- 
position of the hand of God now ! The king suddenly 
conceives the idea of going to England, uninvited, unan- 
nounced, and seemingly for no adequate or definite pur- 
pose. The excellent Kaahumanu now becomes Regent. 
A few months elapse, and the king dies in England ; and 
a few months more and his remains are brought back to 
the island in the frigate Blonde, commanded by the 
excellent Lord Byron, (cousin of the poet,) who, perhaps, 
fulfilled the most important mission of Providence in the 
whole matter. The counsels he gave to the chiefs and 
people, his noble bearing towards the mission and its ob- 



144 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

jects, the notoriety and character he gave to the mission* 
the rebuke which his enlightened and enlarged philan- 
thropy, administered to the narrow, selfish and wicked 
policy of many foreigners at the islands, all conspired to 
make the visit of the Blonde most opportune and influen- 
tial for good. It was worth, to the cause of moral refor- 
mation, the sending into the Pacific of the whole British 
navy. 

The king being removed, and certain ill-affected chiefs 
absent as a part of the king's suite, the good work went 
on apace. Now Kaahumanu, (whose regency continued 
nine years,) aided by the excellent chief Kalanimoku, 
who, from a very early period in the mission, was a 
staunch supporter, and Kaumualii, late king of Kauai, 
who had been as early and as heartily enlisted on behalf 
of Reform, on account of the safe return of his son from 
America, and the kind attentions and expense bestowed 
on him there to educate him, (another important link in 
the providential chain,) set herself in good earnest to the 
work of radical Reform at her islands. And so deeply 
had its foundations been laid before any very formidable 
adverse influences were permitted to return upon them, 
that they could not now be removed from their place. 

That a restless, roving, dissipated youth, clad in the 
robes of savage royalty, should conceive the freak of 
going to England, made but a small ripple on the waters 
of the great world; yet it was again a first link in a most 
interesting series of events : a little fire that kindled a 
great matter. 

Among the hostile chiefs, the mission had not a more 
formidable foe than Boki, the governor of Oahu. He 
had accompanied the king to England, and returned, hav- 
ing learned to admire only the worse features of civilized 
life. His vacillating course, wishing to seem to be carry- 
ing out the policy of the Regency, while at heart opposed 
to it, his hostility to the Reforms of Kaahumanu, and 
his connivance at the wicked devices of certain wicked 
foreigners, and his readiness to aid them in their schemes 
to evade or break down the laws of the government, 
made him truly a formidable foe. So mature did his hos- 
tility at length become, that he headed an insurrection 



SHIPWRECK AND DEATH OF BOKI. 145 

against the government, with the intent to assume the 
reins himself. 

But mark the hand of God here, and you will see how 
he and many of his insurrectionary and most to be feared 
adherents, are put out of the way. Nothing is easier 
with Him who turns the hearts of men as the rivers of 
water are turned. 

Boki suddenly conceives the notion of an expedition 
to a distant island, to cut sandal wood, hoping thereby to 
repair his dilapidated fortunes. Pursuing his prepara- 
tions on the Sabbath, he emba/ks in two vessels, with 
more than four hundred of his adherents, natives and 
foreigners, most of whom hate the light which now for 
the first time is dawning on the islands. Never, perhaps, 
were two vessels ever freighted with more rancorous 
hostility to the bands and cords of a pure religion. 

And did they return in all safety ? No : the Lord had 
separated them from his people, that he might destroy 
them. When far out at sea, a storm arose. The vessel 
in which Boki embarked, is heard of no more. The 
other returns with only twenty survivors, twelve natives 
and eight foreigners. Like Pharaoh and his host, the sea 
opened its mouth and swallowed them up alive. Such 
was probably the fate of the vessel in which Boki sailed. 
The other was overtaken by a mortal sickness ; one hun- 
dred and eighty died, and twenty were left sick on a dis- 
tant island. 

Thus did God disarm the strong man, and bring to 
nought the devices of the wicked. His little church on 
those late favored islands, is as the apple of his eye. As 
of old, He " suffered no man to do them wrong ; yea, He 
reproved kings for their sake, saying, touch not mine 
anointed, and do my prophets no harm/' 

Were it needful, a great variety of similar instances 
might be adduced; such as the very timely visit of the 
Rev. William Ellis, London missionary from the Society 
islands, and Messrs. Tyerman and Bennet, deputation 
from the London society, with several South Sea con- 
verts. Nothing could be more opportune than their 
arrival at this time, to counsel, encourage and assist our 
mission in its incipient stages, and when few in number, 

13 



146 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

and of small resources and experience ; and especially 
opportune and providential was the visit of the South 
Sea converts. They were not only living illustrations 
of what the gospel can do, but they brought a report of 
the success of the gospel on their islands, and the readi- 
ness of the chiefs and people to abandon their idols, and 
embrace Christianity, which was more influential in per- 
suading the kings, chiefs and people of the Sandwich 
Islands, than the eloquence of scores of foreign mission- 
aries. 

Or such as the visits to the islands of the United States 
sloops-of-war, Peacock and Vincennes, whose command- 
ers and officers, by their gentlemanly conduct and en- 
lightened Christian philanthropy, imposed a timely check, 
and, by the uprightness of their intercourse with chiefs 
and people, administered a timely and salutary rebuke 
on the waywardness of a class of loose and vicious for- 
eign residents. And in nothing, perhaps, was the hand 
of God more conspicuous than in the manner in which 
the shameless outrages, from time to time committed by 
this same class of foreigners, such as ship-masters, sailors, 
naval officers, were overruled for the furtherance of the 
gospel. Not an attack was made on the mission which 
did not add character to the missionaries, give notoriety 
and reputation to the mission and its work, and deepen, 
in the minds of its patrons, the conviction that a great 
and a good work was in successful progress. 

But we have, perhaps, lingered too long on those specks 
on the ocean. Our apology is, that the arm of the Lord 
is there wonderfully revealed. 

We turn now in another direction, where the footsteps 
of Providence are quite as visible in the establishment of 
another mission. I refer to South Africa ; and at a time 
when her moral atmosphere was darker than the ebon 
hue of her people. Scarcely has any portion of the hu- 
man family been so debased and abused as the South 
Africans. And as the day of deliverance drew near, the 
bondage of sin grew more and more cruel. The corrupt 
mass became, of itself, yearly more corrupt, till it seemed 
that a few years more must have exterminated a wretched 
race from the face of the earth. They approached the 



MISSIONS TO SOUTH AFRICA. 147 

climax of their misery. They had learned that sin is an 
. evil thing, and bitter, yet its dregs they had not drunken 
till they were subjected to the relentless despotism and 
the shameless outrages of the Dutch boers. They were 
treated as brute beasts — were shot down in their hunting 
excursions as the jackal or the hyena. A daughter of a 
Dutch governor was heard to boast how many natives 
she had shot with her own hands. 

Yet there was deliverance for the poor Hottentot. 
The star of hope rose out of the darkest cloud that ever 
brooded over a wretched land. Providence was all this 
time preparing for them the full horn of salvation. An 
iniquitous government was filling up its measure, and 
hastening to its doom ; while another nation, which 
Heaven has appointed to open the door of the nations to 
the gospel, was ready to take possession, and the almoners 
of Heaven's mercy were laying in rich stores for distri- 
bution among the needy sons of Ham. How events so 
unexpected and extraordinary were brought to pass, may 
be seen better from another point of observation. 

A little pleasure boat is seen sailing on the river Maese, 
near Dort, in Holland. It contains a fine looking, gentle- 
manly man, in middle age, with his wife and daughter. 
They glide along in all the gay luxuriance of a life of 
ease, and, perhaps, never feel more secure of life and 
pleasure. A cloud has risen — the sky is overcast — a 
squall disturbs the waters of the placid stream. The 
boat is upset, and the wife and daughter are drowned. 
The husband, after a long struggle and hair breadth escape 
of death, having been carried down the stream nearly a 
mile, is picked up by the crew of a vessel, which, provi- 
dentially, had at this very moment been loosed from her 
moorings. 

As the bereaved father and disconsolate husband re- 
turned to his solitary dwelling, his citizens recognized in 
him Dr. Vanderkemp, the gentleman of affluence and 
pleasure, who had come to spend at Dort the remainder 
of his days in literary pursuits and rural amusements. 
They had known him only as the man of the world, the 
traveler, the scholar, the infidel. Though a son of an 
excellent Dutch clergyman, and a scholar of the first 



148 



HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 



rank in the university of Leyden, he chose the army as 
the road to honor and affluence. Here he served sixteen 
years ; when, unfortunately, he made a wreck of moral 
character by imbibing principles of the grossest infidelity. 
Next, we find him in the University of Edinburgh, pursu- 
ing studies preparatory to the practice of medicine. 
Next honorably and successfully exercising his profes- 
sion on the island of Zealand ; and, finally, the retired 
gentleman at Dort. 

But from the hour that God sent his tempest and sunk 
his little bark, and buried his hopes beneath the waves, 
and made the earth around look dark, a change comes 
over the scene. The infidel is reclaimed. The retired 
soldier, the man of leisure, the scholar, that was laying 
down his armor, and yielding ingloriously to the fascina- 
tions of pleasure, enlists anew. When the Great Cap- 
tain had need of another Paul, to bear his name to the 
Gentiles — to raise the standard of the cross in Africa, he 
arrested the proud and unbelieving Vanderkemp — cut off 
his family with a stroke — covered his pleasant home with 
desolation — loosed his strong hold on earth, and then 
opened the way to him — to his vast learning, his long ac- 
cumulating experience and wisdom — his enterprise and 
wealth, an ample field in South Africa. 

On the ensuing Sabbath he is found in the long-neg- 
lected sanctuary, commemorating the death of our blessed 
Lord — and as Christ is evidently set before him, cru- 
cified and slain for the remission of sins, his heart is subdued 
by the power of divine grace, and he receives the Lamb 
of God as the great sacrifice and atonement, and hence- 
forward he seeks to do the will of his new master. 

About this time the London Missionary Society began 
to direct attention to the long-neglected and abused con- 
tinent of Africa. An address of that society reached 
Vanderkemp. Men, money, influence, learning, experi- 
ence were wanted for the noble enterprise. He had them 
all — his warm heart took fire : " Lord, what wilt thou 
have me to do ?" Though the meridian of his life was 
passed, its remaining suns shall shine on the benighted 
land of Ham. His purpose is fixed — and soon the winds 
are wafting him to the land of the Hottentots and the 



DR. VANDERKEMP AND AFRICANER. 149 

Caffres ; where he labors, the indefatigable and success- 
ful missionary, thirteen years. 

But this is not all : while an instrumentality is prepar- 
ing in Europe, the field for its operation is opening in 
Africa : while young Vanderkemp is cultivating his gigan- 
tic mind at the university, and storing it with knowledge, 
he knew not why — while for sixteen years he was sub- 
jecting himself to the hardships of war, that he might 
" endure hardship as a good soldier" — or pursuing his pro- 
fessional studies at Edinburgh — or gaining wisdom and 
experience in professional life, a corresponding line of 
Providence is discovered at the Cape of Good Hope. 
The power of the Dutch, who have long abused and 
humbled the natives, and done much to scourge them into 
a compliance with almost any change, is on the wane ; 
and while the attention of the London Missionary Society 
is directed thither, and only three years previous to the 
embarking of Dr. Vanderkemp, South Africa is thrown 
into the hands of the British, and a wide and effectual 
door opened for the admission of the gospel of peace. 
And now, over those once sterile regions, where not a 
plant of virtue could grow, the Rose of Sharon blooms. 
Thousands of once wretched Hottentots sing for joy, and 
the dreary habitations of the Caffres are vocal with the 
praises of our God. 

Before quitting this interesting portion of benevolence 
and providential development, I must allude at least to a 
single individual instance. I refer to the conversion of 
Africaner, the most formidable and blood-thirsty chief 
that ever prowled over the plains or hid in the mountains 
of Africa. He was the terror of every tribe ; the trav- 
eler feared him more than all other dangers that might 
befall him ; and he most emphatically breathed out threat- 
enings and slaughter against the disciples of Christ. He 
had attacked and burnt out the mission which had settled 
on his territory, and dispersed the missionaries under cir- 
cumstances the most distressing. But, thanks to the 
power of sovereign grace, this lion could be tamed. The 
Lion of the tribe of Judah was stronger than he. His 
heart at length relented. Saul was among the prophets. 
He received the missionary into his kraal — listened to the 

13* 



150 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

message of redeeming love, and found it the power of 
God to salvation. Henceforth he was gentle as a lamb — 
docile as a child. And he became as famous as a peace- 
maker as he had been as a rioter in blood and carnage. 
God arrested him — and through him gave the gospel free 
access to many tribes, and made him a nursing father to 
all who chose the new and more excellent way. 

Copious extracts might be taken from the history of 
modern missions illustrative of the same thing. But we 
need not multiply examples. I have undertaken to give 
only specimens of the manner in which God has guided 
the flight of the angel — removing out of his way every 
obstacle, giving success under the most untoward circum- 
stances — making the wrath of man praise Him — and 
using the winds, the floods, pestilence, fire and sword, to 
subserve the great purposes of his mercy in the spread of 
the gospel. 

While watching the ways of an all-controlling Provi- 
dence in the progress of Christianity the last fifty years, 
other items in this connection deserve attention : As the 
almost simultaneous origin af modern benevolent societies — 
their providential history — and the remarkable preservation 
of their missionaries from the hand of violence. 

It is always interesting to watch the processes of Divine 
Wisdom. His purposes never fail through omissions, 
oversights, or mistakes. One thing is always made to 
answer to another. When he has opened a field and 
prepared it for the seed, he never fails for the want of la- 
borers. Or when he has raised up and prepared his labor- 
ers, his plans never fail from a lack of pecuniary means. 
Not only has he all hearts in his hands, but the silver 
and the gold are his. In accordance with the universal 
wisdom by which he sees from the beginning to the end, 
and his universal supremacy over all, by which, with in- 
finite ease, he accomplishes all his purposes, we find there 
has sprung into existence a beautiful sisterhood of benev- 
olent societies. 

Is there an increasing demand for the Bible, which shall 
soon grow into a universal demand from the four quarters 
of the earth? There is a mysterious moving on the 
minds of a few pious persons in London — they meet to 



ORIGIN OF BENFVOLENT SOCIETIES. 151 

provide means to give the Bible to the poor in Wales — 
whence came the first feeble cry. Hence a Bible Society. 
But how little did those pious few expect so soon to be- 
come a mighty host — how little expect their deliberations 
would issue in the formation of a Bible society, destined, 
with its collateral streams, to supply the whole world with 
the waters of life — in less than a quarter of a century to 
issue ten millions of Bibles ; or since its formation twenty- 
six millions — and in whole nations supplying every family 
with the word of life. 

Or have vicissitudes in nations, and changes in em- 
pires opened new and large territories for occupancy by 
the gospel, a spirit of benevolence begins to pervade the 
church. The holy fire, kindled by some invisible agency, 
begins to burn, and spread from heart to heart. And as 
genuine piety is social, and holy and benevolent desires 
seek the company of their kindred, a holy confederacy 
springs into existence to meet the new demand. Hence 
a missionary society. Providence created the demand — 
and the same unerring councillor and unfailing executor, 
furnishes the corresponding supply. And hence, too, 
tract, education, and home missionary societies, and all 
those combinations of holy and benevolent energies, the 
objects of which are to carry forward, in their respective 
departments at home and abroad, the evangelization of 
the world. They are the legitimate offspring of Provi- 
dence, begotten in the council chamber of eternity, and 
brought into existence nearly at the same time, and at 
the identical moment when the wheels of Providence, in 
their sure and irresistible revolution among the nations, 
had arrived at a point where such instrumentalities could 
be used. 

I have already alluded to the providential origin of be- 
nevolent societies. — It is enough that they rose into being 
at precisely the right time, and at the bidding of Him ivho 
spake and it was done. " It is remarkable, says a late 
British writer," (Rev. Mr. Thorp,) " that these noble in- 
stitutions of Christian benevolence originated at the mo- 
mentous crisis when the pagan kingdoms begun to shake 
under the visitations of Divine wrath. It was amidst the 
rage and v madness of atheism — amidst the horrors and 



152 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

chaos of anarchy and revolution, that these societies rose 
with placid dignity ; combining, as they rose, the wealth, 
the talent, the influence, and the energies of myriads of 
Christians) in various nations, and all denominations, in 
one general effort to rescue the heathen world from the 
bondage of corruption. Verily, the finger of God is here. 
It is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our sight." 

And there is much in the progressive, providential his- 
tory of these societies, which merits a passing notice 
here. Take the Church Missionary Society of England, 
and in reference to a single particular, viz : an increase 
of funds to suit every exigency, and we shall see it. 
Items like the following are recorded in her history : In 
the fourteenth year of the society's existence, her funds 
rose from sixteen thousand dollars to fifty-two thousand. 
That was the year the East India Bill passed, which laid 
open to the benevolent efforts of British Christians the 
one hundred millions of Hindoostan. In her twenty- 
seventh year, her funds rose from two hundred and four 
thousand dollars to two hundred and thirty-five thousand. 
This was the year of jubilee in the West Indies, when a 
new and effectual door was opened to the society by the 
act of emancipation. Again, in 1838, her funds rose from 
three hundred and forty-seven thousand dollars to four 
hundred and four thousand. It was in this year that the 
spirit was poured out from on high, upon the province of 
Krisknughar, and an unwonted demand made for laborers 
in this newly opened vineyard. Thirty or forty villages 
almost immediately embraced Christianity ; which num- 
ber has since been doubled, and some four thousand na- 
tives numbered as converts. 

God provides for every exigency. We should not 
soon find an end of quoting providential interpositions in 
the history of benevolent societies. 

There is one point more : the remarkable preservation 
of missionaries. It must have arrested the attention of 
even the casual observer, that this class of men have been 
peculiarly under the protecting hand of Heaven. How- 
various have been the vicissitudes of their lives, yet how 
few their casualties. By sea and by land, they have 
been subjected to all sorts of perils. Their dwelling-place 



PRESERVATION OF MISSIONARIES. 153 

has often been among robbers, and generally among 
savage men, and in barbarous climes. In the missionary 
enterprise it is no unfrequent occurrence that expeditions 
are undertaken by a few defenceless men, in the face of 
hostile and despotic governments, and in despite of dan- 
gers from climate, wild beasts, deserts, rivers, or human 
foes, which, to the eye that sees not the protecting Hand, 
seems incredible and presumptuous. Yet how very few 
have fallen by violence. Of the thousands that have rode 
on the angry billows, or dwelt in the midst of thick perils, 
few have made their grave in the deep, or come to an 
untimely end. 

Remarkable preservations stand on the records of the 
flight of the " angel having the everlasting gospel to 
preach." God has kept his embassadors to the Gentiles, 
as the apple of his eye. It is enough that I adduce a few 
instances as specimens : 

To pass over the many exceedingly interesting inci- 
dents in the lives of the early missionaries to the North 
American Indians, in which the most barbarous plots for 
their lives were frustrated, and the most inveterate hos- 
tility of priests and chiefs, disarmed the moment it seemed 
just about to burst on the heads of the missionaries ; and, 
also, instances not a few in the early history of Moravian 
missions, in which they escaped death so narrowly ; or, 
as they seemed inclined to believe, so miraculously, as to 
induce the belief among them, that they did experience 
the literal fulfillment of the promise : " They shall take up 
serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not 
hurt them : n I will quote from the records of providential 
preservation, the following : " Irritated by the unwel- 
come restraints of Christianity, several dissolute young 
men, on one of the South Sea islands, determined on the 
assassination of Mr. Williams and his colleagues. The 
time fixed to strike the first horrid blow was when Mr. 
W. should be on his way to a neighboring island, in the 
regular discharge of his official duties. To make sure 
their opportunity, four of the conspirators volunteered 
their services to convey him thither. His fate seemed 
inevitable. The hour for starting had arrived, when Mr. 
W. discovered that his boat was wholly unfit for the sea, 



154 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

and the voyage, much to his regret, was abandoned. 
But the assassins did not abandon their murderous design 
so. On the following day he was again saved, by the 
providential interposition of a friend, from the execution 
of a plot which had been laid to murder him in his own 
house. Again and again did he escape death, the fatally 
aimed dart being warded off by an unseen hand." 

The South Africa mission abounds in such incidents : 
a ruffian raises a dagger to plunge it in the heart of Mr. 
Kramar. Providentially a little girl is standing by, who 
wards off the blow. Again, an abandoned wretch forms 
the murderous design of cutting off the whole mission — 
missionaries, teachers, church and people, by throwing 
poison into their well. But the Keeper of Israel, who 
never slumbers nor sleeps, had again set a child to watch, 
and warn his chosen ones of harm. Her timely notice 
saved the mission, and brought the culprit to condign 
punishment. 

Again, a party of Bushmen lay in ambush near the 
house of Mr. Kicherer, and were preparing to discharge 
a volley of poisoned arrows at him, as he sat near an open 
window ; but the same little girl that saved the life of Mr. 
Kramar was near to act as the mouth of God, to give the 
timely warning, and, as the hand of Providence, to rescue 
his servant from a premature death. And in another 
case, a criminal, having escaped from prison at the Cape, 
and insinuated himself into the family of Mr. K., formed 
the murderous design of assassinating his host, and moving 
off with his cattle and goods to some remote horde. But 
as the villain enters the room to strike the deadly blow, 
Mr. K. is roused as by an unseen hand, and, in his terror, 
put to flight the murderer. 

Read the whole history of missions, and you will find 
on almost every page, a record of some kindly interposi- 
tion of the Divine Hand in the preservation of his chosen 
vessels, to bear his name among the Gentiles. We might 
call up such examples as Judson, Hough and Wade, 
amidst the mad Birmese, waiting but a signal to execute 
the bloody mandate of the king. The signal is given — 
which was the roar of British cannon ; yet the execu- 
tioners, petrified with fear, cannot perform their bloody 



PRESERVATION OF MISSIONARIES. 155 

mission, and the missionaries live ; or such examples as 
those of Bingham, Richards, and others at the Sandwich 
Islands, when ferociously attacked by infuriated gangs of 
seamen. 

The idea of a special interposition here, is strikingly 
illustrated by a statement recently made by one of the 
Secretaries of the American Board. 

" From the organization of the American Board of 
Commissioners for Foreign Missions, in September, 1810, 
to the death of Dr. Armstrong, the number of outward 
and home voyages, between the United States and 
foreign lands, made by persons in the employment of the 
Board, excluding twenty-seven, of whose completion 
intelligence has not yet been received, is seven hundred 
and four. These voyages have been made by four hun- 
dred and ninety-six persons, male and female, not in- 
cluding twelve now on their way to foreign lands for the 
first time. Of these voyages actually completed, four 
hundred and sixty-seven have each been from fifteen to 
eighteen thousand miles in length. If those voyages along 
the coast of the United States, on the great lakes, and on 
the western rivers, and those from one port to another in 
foreign countries, varying from five hundred to three 
thousand miles each, are included, and to them are added 
the voyages made by the children of missionaries, the 
whole number of voyages will exceed one thousand ; 
besides many shorter trips on seas, rivers and lakes. In 
all these, no individual connected with the Board has 
been shipwrecked, or has lost his life by drowning. 

The number of ordained missionaries sent out by the 
Board, is two hundred and fifty-three ; physicians, twenty ; 
other male assistants, one hundred and twenty-two ; 
and females, four hundred and fifty-seven ; in all, eight 
hundred and fifty-two ; none of whom, so far as informa- 
tion has been received, have lost their lives, or been 
seriously injured, in their journeyings to or from their 
fields of labor, by land or water. Three — Messrs. Mun- 
son and Lyman, in Sumatra, and Doct. Satterlee, west of 
the Pawnee country — lost their lives by savage violence, 
while on exploring tours ; and Rev. Mr. Benham, of the 
Siam mission, was drowned while crossing a river near 



156 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

his own house. With these exceptions, all the explora- 
tions and other journey ings of these eight hundred and 
fifty-two missionary laborers have been, so far as can 
now be called to mind, without loss of life or serious 
accident. 

Going back to the commencement of the operations of 
the Board, none of its treasurers, secretaries or agents, 
amounting to about fifty persons in all, have, in their 
various and extended journeyings by land and water, and 
in the almost pathless wilderness on the western frontiers 
and the contiguous Indian countries, met with any serious 
accident or calamity, till Dr. Armstrong perished in the 
wreck of the steamer Atlantic." 

In conclusion, a single inference urges itself on our 
attention. It is this : God's tejider regard and watchful 
care over his own cause. This cause is as the apple of 
his eye. No weapon raised against it has ever pros- 
pered. Not one jot or tittle of all he has said can fail ; 
not one purpose be left unfulfilled. Has He said he will 
give the kingdom to his Son, and shall he not bring it to 
pass ? Nothing can oppose his will ; nothing hinder his 
arm once made bare to carry out his purposes. With 
what unwavering confidence, then, we may trust in God. 



CHAPTER IX. 



Hand of God in facilities and resources by which to spread Christianity. The suprem- 
acy of England and America : prevalence of the English language, and European 
manners, habits and dress. Modern improvements ; facilities for locomotion. Isth- 
mus of Suez and Darien. Commercial relations. Post-Office. 

"Behold, I vnll do a new thing ; I will even make a way in the 
wilderness, and rivers in the desert?' — Isaiah, xliii. 19. 

Nothing more interests the pious mind than to trace 
the footsteps of Providence in the progress of evangelical 



ALL OPPOSITION VAIN. 157 

truth. It invigorates our faith; fires our zeal; gives 
strength and reality to our hopes, and infuses new vigor 
into our efforts. We are looking for the day as not 
distant, when the kingdoms of this world shall become 
the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. The Pro- 
prietor and Governor of this world is soon to take posses- 
sion of his own ; to wrest it from the hands of the usurper, 
and give it to the saints of the Most High. Already we 
discern tokens of such an event ; providential dispensa- 
tions, preparing the way, removing obstacles, gathering 
resources, providing men and materials; multiplying 
facilities, till we already begin to speak with confidence 
that the day of Christianity's triumph is near. 

Beautifully have all things, from the beginning, been 
brought into subserviency to this end. " Political changes 
and state revolutions ; war and peace ; victory and de- 
feat ; plenty and famine ; the wisdom of the wise and the 
imbecility of the weak ; the virtues and the vices of man- 
kind, and all the minute or mighty movements of man, 
are under the control of an invisible and Almighty hand, 
which, without breaking in upon the established laws of 
nature, or intrenching on the freedom of human actions, 
makes them all subservient to the purposes of his infinite 
wisdom and perfection/' in the progress of the great work 
of human redemption. Here all opposition, however 
skillfully concerted, is unavailing. No weapon ever 
formed against truth has prospered. Its victories have 
been as certain as they have been triumphant and glo- 
rious. Apparent defeats are final, and oftentimes illus- 
trious victories. The rage of persecution is either re- 
strained, or overruled for good. However furiously the 
troubled waters have beat against the ark of the true 
Israel ; however madly dashed on the Rock of our salva- 
tion, that ark — that rock, has remained immovable as the 
everlasting hills. He that walketh on the waves of the 
sea, hath said to their proud billows, "peace, be still." 
He fulfilleth all his purposes ; he executeth all his will. 
He maketh a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the 
desert. 

In preceding chapters I have shown how God has 
done this, in carrying forward the cause of Christianity 

14 



158 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

in different periods of its progress. In the last two, I 
gave a practical view, at least, of the hand of God in the 
enterprise of modern missions. In continuation of the 
main subject, three topics remain to be discussed : 

I. The hand of God as seen in the facilities which 
the present state of the world, and the present condition 
of man, afford to the speedy and universal spread of the 
gospel. 

II. The present aspect of the world as a field open for 
the reception of the gospel. 

III. The duty of Christians in regard to the world's 
conversion. 

My purpose, in the discussion of these points, is to de- 
lineate, as accurately as possible, the present aspect of the 
great field, which, as disciples of Christ, we are com- 
manded immediately to evangelize. I may, from the 
fluctuating character of the records, make the picture 
more or less accurate, but, I trust, sufficiently accurate to 
supply motives of much encouragement to our " labors 
of love" to a dying world, and which shall exalt the God 
of our salvation. 

I. The hand of God as seen in the facilities which 
the present state of the world, and the present condition 
of man, afford to the speedy and universal spread of the 
gospel. 

I should occupy too much space were I to attempt, on 
so fruitful a topic, to draw a complete picture ; yet I 
should do injustice to the general subject, were I to be 
too brief. The following particulars will furnish ample 
illustration : 

1. The unwonted acquisition of power and territory \ by 
Christian nations, furnishes extraordinary facilities for the 
universal diffusion of the gospel. The disposition of na- 
tions is purely providential. God alone setteth up one, 
and putteth down another. As king of nations He has, 
at the present time, and for purposes we can scarcely 
mistake, given an almost unlimited supremacy to the two 
most enlightened and Christian nations. England and 
America give laws to the world ; rather, I will say, the 
Anglo-Saxon race are extending an all-controlling influ- 
ence over nearly the entire earth. Where will you fix 



ANGLO-SAXONDOM. 159 

the limits of English power, or where bound the influ- 
ence of them who speak the English language ? Will 
you circumscribe it within the vast boundaries of the 
ancient Roman empire ? Will you fix on the Indus or 
the Ganges as its eastern boundary, or on the Mississippi 
as its western ? You will have circumnavigated the 
globe before you will have found the goal beyond which 
Anglo-Saxon power and influence do not reach. Trav- 
erse the earth from pole to pole, and you can scarcely 
point out the spot where you may not trace the footsteps of 
Anglo-Saxon skill, improvement, civilization and religion. 
The sun, in his diurnal journey, never ceases to look 
down on some portion of the British empire. And, 
though the territorial possessions of the United States are 
much less than those of Great Britain, her moral influ- 
ence on the world may not be less ; at least the inference 
is fair that it is destined not to be less. 

Nor has the empire of the Anglo Saxons yet found a 
limit. Her sons in America are stretching themselves 
over a vast continent. They are planting the institu- 
tions of freedom, and displaying the improvements of 
civilization, and diffusing the benign influences of religion 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific. While England, on the 
other hand, is pushing her conquests, either directly by 
war, or more laudably by negotiation and treaty, by colo- 
nies, by commerce, or otherwise, into almost every part 
of the habitable globe. She is enlarging her borders in 
western and central Asia. She dictates terms of peace 
and war in Syria, Cabool, or Afghanistan. She sits an 
arbiter among the nations. If she turn her victorious 
arm against the " Celestial Empire," a way is prepared 
before her. Every valley is exalted, every hill made low. 
Nothing can withstand the power of her arm, for Heaven 
has nerved it, till the purposes of His wisdom and His 
grace be accomplished. She reaches out her sceptre, too, 
over numerous and Histant islands of the sea, and gives 
laws to more of the human race than were known to 
exist on the whole face of the earth in the proudest days 
of the Roman empire. Africa, too, on almost every side, 
is beginning to feel the benign sway of English power, 
In the south, on the east and west, that ill-fated continent, 



160 IIAXD OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

so long the abode of ignorance, cruelty and superstition, 
— so long the subject of outrages which disgrace the page 
oi man's history, is begirt with those same Anglo-Saxon 
influences, which ere long shall be to her as the cloud 
that interposed between Israel and her pursuers, — a cloud 
of darkness and confusion to them who would, with hands 
of robbery and blood, invade the peaceful dwellings of 
the sons of Ham, and bring them to a bondage more 
cruel than death, but a luminous cloud to them who will 
receive from the hands of the white man the light of reli- 
gion and science, of the arts and civilization. 

Whatever may be said of English ambition, or of her 
pride, avarice or oppression, — or whatever opinion the 
political moralist may form of the justness of many of 
her negotiations (which are little else than terms dictated 
by a stronger to a weaker power,) one thing is undeniable ; 
wherever English power is felt, there the arm of protec- 
tion and assistance is extended to the missionary. No 
sooner is the roar of British cannon heard off the coast 
of Birmah, or at the Cape of Good Hope, than the cap- 
tured missionaries are set free, and allowed to return to 
their work.* 

This is all our present subject demands. Wherever 
the British flag waves, the messenger of peace and par- 
don may pursue his work unmolested ; traverse the whole 
land, in its length and breadth, and fear no danger ; em- 
ploy the means of education, erect school-houses, build 
churches, translate the Bible, prepare books, and apply 
the various instrumentalities for the regeneration of a 
benighted nation, without the chilling apprehension that 
the jealousy or fickleness of the government, or some 
freak of human depravity may at any time frustrate all 
his plans and banish him from the country. Sheltered 
under the wings of the Almighty, which are spread over 
him in the shape of British dominion, he commences his 
work, confidently expecting to be able to finish it. 

I do not mean to intimate that the English nation, as 
such, has any such noble and benevolent design in her 
conquests and dominion ; " howbeit she meaneth not so, 

* As in the case of Mr. Judson, Dr. Vanderkemp, Read, &c. 



THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 161 

neither doth her heart think so," but that the Almighty 
Ruler of the nations has chosen her as his arm, by which 
to break to pieces the gates of brass, and cut asunder the 
bars of iron, which have for so many centuries shut up 
the heathen world in gross darkness, and bound them fast 
in the bondage of Satan. The time of their emancipa- 
tion has come, and an all-controlling Providence, who 
has at command all the resources of earth, has chosen 
this nation as his instrument by which to accomplish so 
noble and grand a purpose. 

I need not ask who it is that has taken the reins of 
government from so many hands, and given them to a 
Christian nation. This, and on a magnificent scale, too, 
is one of those divine arrangements which we cannot too 
much admire. What unbounded facilities are thus af- 
forded for the diffusion of the gospel throughout the length 
and breadth of the earth. Do the embassadors of the Cross 
need protection in Birmah or China? These nations 
are delivered into the hands of England, and the needed 
protection secured. Is the existence and prosperity of a 
mission in Abyssinia suspended on the will of the king 
who may soon be succeeded by a prince hostile to Chris- 
tianity ? Mark the divine interposition here. A British 
fleet appears in the Red Sea. Aden, the Gibralter of that 
sea, and the key to Abyssinia is captured, just in time 
to afford an asylum to the mission. * 

We cannot but discern the hand of God in the wisdom 
and benevolence of the arrangement which has given 
such a decided supremacy to the nations of Christendom. 
The word of their power is felt to the ends of the earth. 
England is the Rome of the day. In respect to the spread 
of the gospel, she holds a position not dissimilar from the 
Roman empire in apostolic days. This will be further 
illustrated as we proceed. 

2. Another facility for the universal spread of the gos- 
pel, in which the hand of Providence is clearly discerni- 
ble, is the very great prevalence of the English language, 



* Aden was taken by the British, in 1841. But for this timely interposition of Provi- 
dence, the present interesting mission must have been broken up on the death of the 
present king. 

14* 



1(32 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

and a corresponding desire to become acquainted with 
that language. 

The English language is a store-house. It contains 
treasures of knowledge, of history, of wisdom, theoretical 
and practical. It embodies a record of the arts and 
sciences, of civilization and religion. It abounds, too, in 
political wisdom, opens the surest road to social and civil 
honors ; is rich in biblical learning and criticism ; and, 
indeed, affords to all who can read and speak it, an 
immense advantage in their progress from barbarism to 
civilization and Christianity. We can scarcely conceive 
a man to have free access to the treasures of English 
literature, science and religion, and to use his privileges, 
and yet remain a Pagan or Mohammedan. He may be 
professedly so, yet he will be a Christian or an infidel. 

Language is a mighty thing. The Romans understood 
this when they spared no pains to diffuse the Latin lan- 
guage throughout their distant provinces. By this means 
they diffused the feelings and sentiments of Rome. Thus 
Italy not only gave laws to the many nations which com- 
posed her mighty empire, but, by sending, through the 
sure channel of her language, her fashions, customs and 
thoughts, she effectually made them Roman. The influ- 
ence of the introduction into a Pagan nation, of a Chris- 
tian language, containing a Christian literature, science, 
history and theology, and forming a constant channel of 
communication for the every-day sentiments of a Chris- 
tian people, can only be estimated by those who know 
the power of language over the national character, and 
the social and religious habits. When a pagan nation 
gives up its language, it essentially gives up those rites, 
superstitions and fooleries which almost entirely make up 
its religion. 

The English language is fast being diffused over the 
w T hole earth. Not only is it co-extensive with the vast 
domains of the Anglo-Saxons, but you can scarcely visit 
a people, tribe or nation, where you will not hear the fa- 
miliar accents of your mother tongue. And, as exten- 
sive as the British empire, too, is the desire to become 
acquainted with this language. The Hindoo and the 
Tahitian, the proud Chinese and the poor Esquimaux, 



DECREASE OF LANGUAGES. 163 

makes it the height of his ambition to be able to read and 
speak the language of so noble a race. 

The time is not distant when half the population of our 
globe shall speak the English language. Such, at least, 
are the present intimations of Providence. And it is not 
difficult to see what must be the bearing of such a fact 
on the destiny of the whole world. If language be a 
mighty thing, and if the English language be laden with 
such stores as has been said, we may hail the singular 
prevalence of our language as a delightful presage that 
Truth is soon to prevail. 

But there is, in connection with this thought about 
languages, a kindred fact of a more general character, 
which still more distinctly indicates a providential agency 
engaged to remove obstacles to the spread of the truth. 
I refer to the remarkable decrease of the number of lan- 
guages. Not a few of the languages, which have so long 
made our world a Babel, — producing confusion and dis- 
persion, alienating the different branches of the same 
great family, have within the last century ceased to be 
spoken ; and as many Pagan languages are scarcely more 
than spoken languages, having nothing that deserves the 
name of literature ; they have virtually ceased to be 
languages. And the number is yearly becoming less. 
The spread of the English language, easy international 
communication, and the supremacy of the nations speak- 
ing the English language, are fast bringing the long sepa- 
rated portions of the human race again into one great 
family. Through the medium of six or seven of the 
principal languages now used, by far the greater portion 
of the world's population may now be addressed. Let 
the missionary address, verbally and through the press, 
as many of earth's inhabitants as he can through the 
medium of the English, French, German, Arabic, Hin- 
doostanee, Chinese, and one language of Africa,* and he 
will probably have reached more than four fifths of the 
whole. And causes are in progress to diminish the num- 
ber of languages still more. Truth only is permanent. 
And those languages only, can live, under the reign of 

• See remarks in Chapter XVI, on the affinity of African languages. 



164 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

Truth, whose literature, science and theology, are the 
utterances of Truth. 

Hence we look that the language of the little Isle — yet 
not so much the language of England, as the language 
of Puritanism ; the Puritanism of Oliver Cromwell and 
New England, the language of English liberty, of Re- 
publicanism, of true science, of Protestantism, of religious 
freedom and of piety, shall become well nigh universal. 
Other languages, as they shall become inoculated with 
the vitality of Truth, shall have a longer or shorter, a 
feebler or a more vigorous life. Nevertheless, we look 
for the time to come when the cause of the melancholy 
catastrophe at Babel shall be removed, and " the whole 
earth" shall again be of one language and one speech." 

The influence which this wide extension of the Eng- 
lish language must have in the evangelization of the 
world, it is not difficult to conceive. It affords an im- 
mense facility for the propagation of the gospel to the 
ends of the earth. And who has furnished it to our 
hands ? Who has done this new thing, and made a way 
in the wilderness, by which access is open to half the in- 
habitants of the globe ? The Lord is his name, and we 
will praise him. He is hereby breaking down the parti- 
tion wall that has separated us from the Gentile world. 

3. Akin to this, there is a disposition equally extensive 
to conform to European habits, manners and dress ; to 
adopt the improvements of civilized and Christian nations ; 
to be governed by their laws, and profited by their superior 
wisdom. 

These things, though not religion or morality, are 
nearly connected with both. They are often the chan- 
nels through which religion and morality are introduced 
and established. When a people consent to give up a 
false philosophy for the true ; Pagan literature for Chris- 
tian ; when they concede the superiority of civilized 
government to the despotism and cruelty of Paganism, 
and freely avail themselves of the improvements of civil- 
ized life, and no longer despise its costume and social 
habits, we predict, with much certainty, that they are 
not far from the kingdom of heaven. They have eman- 
cipated themselves from the bondage of prejudice, and 



MODERN IMPROVEMENTS. 165 

condescended to yield to the sober dictates of reason. 
Serious obstacles to their conversion are removed, and 
we may expect to find their minds open to receive the 
truth. 

If, on looking abroad over the face of the earth, we 
find such, in the orderings of divine Providence, to be 
the actual condition of large portions of the heathen 
world, we may, without fear of disappointment, await 
some favorable result. 

4. Facilities for the spread of the truth arising from 
modern improvements in modes of conveyance. Before 
knowledge shall be so increased as to cover the whole 
earth, many must go to and fro. Distances must be con- 
tracted ; nations be brought into neighborhood, and close 
international relations formed. 

Such is precisely what we see at the present day. 
For all purposes of business or social intercourse, Liver- 
pool is no\v as near New York, as, forty years ago, Bos- 
ton was to Albany. Nor is China so far from us now, 
as London was at that period. For this extraordinary 
change, we are principally indebted to the application of 
the power of steam to the purposes of locomotion. The 
introduction of the railroad car and the steam-ship, 
forms altogether a new era in the business and reforma- 
tion of the world. And especially is the influence of 
this new order of things felt in the work of evangeliza- 
tion. The Roman empire was vastly indebted for its 
greatness and glory, to the facilities of communication 
which connected its capital with its remotest frontier. 
By means of its great national roads, constructed at an 
enormous expense, and connecting Rome with the capi- 
tal of every province of the empire, (vestiges of which, 
after fifteen centuries, still remain,) that vast empire was 
consolidated and strengthened. The imperial arm could 
thus reach to the remotest corner of the empire. Posts 
were, by this means, established ; intelligence communi- 
cated ; a knowledge of science, literature and improve- 
ments diffused ; and the great purposes of government 
easily answered. Indeed, as already intimated, this was 
the feature of the Roman empire which made it so effec- 
tual an instrument in the early extension of the gospel. 



166 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

When a superintending Providence would convey his 
messengers throughout the Roman world, he provided, 
as never before, facilities of conveyance. 

But not the provinces of the Roman empire, but now 
the nations and kingdoms of the whole earth are brought 
into juxta-position by means of improved modes of con- 
veyance. Nations are no longer alienated by formidable 
distances,, or unknown seas. There is scarcely a tribe 
on the surface of the globe, which is not easily accessible 
to those who hold in their hands the everlasting gospel. 
A voyage around the world — a visit to the remotest isl- 
ands of the Pacific, is but an enterprise of a few months. 
Do philanthropists of different nations wish to meet for 
mutual consultation — do Christians of every clime desire 
to mingle their councils, such a meeting is practicable. 
A world's convention may be convened. 

Already has steam navigation wrought a mighty change. 
It has changed the whole moral, social, and political 
world. It has brought nations into neighborhood ; made 
them acquainted with one-another's advantages and dis- 
advantages, virtues and vices, and thus struck a death- 
blow to a thousand prejudices and superstitions, and 
made many tribes of rude barbarians ashamed of their ig- 
norance and barbarism, and resolved to imitate their im- 
proved neighbors. 

It has wrought a mighty change on the habits of the 
sluggish nations of the East. The paddle-wheels of im- 
provement, and the terrific puffs of the fire and smoke of 
reform, have broken up the stagnant waters of every na- 
tion from Constantinople to Japan. It has infused a 
spirit of enterprise ; a promptness in business habits ; an 
idea of the power of true science, and shown the practi- 
cability and vast advantages to a nation of progressive 
improvement, which nothing before has ever done. It 
becomes a ready medium for the interchange of ideas. 
The Chinese and American may now meet on common 
ground, and talk of government, of science and religion. 
They may weigh the merits of their respective systems ; 
compare practical results as exhibited in the character of 
their respective nations, and deduce a motive for im- 
provement. It affords, too, every needed facility for the 



PROGRESSIVE IMPROVEMENT. 167 

conveyance of the agents of philanthropy and benevo- 
lence to every nation on earth. It is a presage of vast 
good that all the tribes of the earth are, at length, brought 
into so close neighborhood as to afford a ready inter- 
change of thoughts, and a comparison of habits. While 
the missionary from America is teaching a pure gospel in 
Bombay or Batavia, and exemplifying the graces of our 
holy religion, the Imaum of Muscat, a bishop from the 
mountains of Persia, a Chinese mandarine, or some Henry 
Obookiah, from an unknown island, is gazing and wonder- 
ing at what he beholds in a land of free institutions, and 
of a pure religion. They return to their respective coun- 
tries to relate and recommend what they have seen, and 
heard, and felt. 

Discern we not the hand of God here? Has blind 
chance produced such a state of things ? Do we not 
rather here read the gracious interposition of Heaven in 
behalf of a world dying in wickedness ? Something here 
seems to say, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone, 
the flowers appear on the earth, the time of the singing of 
birds is come. The day of earth's redemption is at hand. 

But the progress of improvement in modes of convey- 
ance has yet found no limit. We have yet no engine for 
locomotion which is, of its kind, perfect. Its machinery, 
both as to material and workmanship, is constantly un- 
dergoing improvement. The sciences on which it de- 
pends are but in their infancy, and, of consequence, their 
practical results are imperfect. We may, therefore, ex- 
pect vast improvements in our means of international com- 
munication, which shall make them safer and more expe- 
ditious. And not only this, but are we not to look for 
further inventions, which shall as far excel our present 
modes of conveyance, as these surpass those in the days 
of our grandfathers ? 

The supposition is a fair one, and not without some 
plausible grounds. Several years elapsed, after the dis- 
covery that steam might be made a locomotive power, be- 
fore it was applied to purposes of any essential importance. 
Franklin, sometime after the discovery had been an- 
nounced, ventured the prediction that the time would 
come when a vessel should be propelled by steam at the 



168 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

rate of seven or eight miles an hour ; that the day might 
come when the Atlantic should be crossed in a steam- 
ship ; and the distance from New York to Philadelphia 
be traversed in a single day and night. 

Few had the mind of Franklin, or penetrated so far 
into futurity, or anticipated more accurately the expan- 
sive intellect and inventive genius of man, or the ad- 
vances of science. Yet how far he fell short of the pres- 
ent reality. 

The supposition is more than probable that the coming 
half century shall be as fertile, in useful inventions, as the 
last half has been. Already modes of conveyance have 
been invented, which, if they can be made practical, and 
be brought to perfection, will as far surpass steam-ships 
and railroad cars, as these surpass, in celerity of motion 
and convenience, the Dutch schooner which navigated 
the North river forty years ago, or the Jersey cart which 
plied between New York and Philadelphia. The ex- 
pectation that air balloons shall, within that period, be- 
come practical and safe means of crossing mountains, 
rivers, seas, and deserts, as, with a bird-like celerity, the 
inhabitants of one nation shall, on errands of mercy, or 
tours of business or pleasure, wish to visit the inhabitants 
of another, is no more absurd, does at this day no more 
transcend our conceptions of what may be, than the idea 
of the present facilities for traveling and freight would 
have surpassed the conceptions of men fifty years ago. 
And should the close of the next fifty years witness our 
atmosphere a high way to the nations, by means of air- 
ships, there will be as little reason for surprise.* Indeed, 
should this be the " new thing'' which inventive Heaven 
shall do ; this the " way/' which, in these latter days, He 
will open for the more speedy acceleration of his work on 
earth, it would but beautifully accord with the description 
of its progress given in Rev. xiv. 6 : " And I saw an 
angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting 



* Indeed, little is wanting now to realize all I have supposed, but the invention of 
some mode of guiding the balloon in a horizontal direction. This attained, and the 
point is gained. Tribes and nations, now quite inaccessible, would be thrown open to 
us. The following notice recently appeared in a New York paper : "An aerial car 
for navigating the air at will, in all directions, was exhibited in the Tabernacle, Feb. 
23d, 1849, to be propelled by a steam-propeller of ten-horse power. 



ISTHMUS OF SUEZ AND DARIEN. 169 

gospel to preach." Again, the wonderful mode of com- 
munication through the Magnetic Telegraph, by which 
means intercourse may be held, business transacted, and 
knowledge communicated instantly between places thou- 
sands of miles asunder, can, by no means, be passed un- 
noticed here. The bearing of this new and extraordinary 
mode of communication, for good or for evil on the world, 
will be tremendous. If overruled for good, as we may 
expect, it will doubtless prove one of the most efficient 
arrangements which Providence has ever devised for the 
enlarging and Christianizing the world. Long hath God 
made the winds his ministers ; now shall he make the 
fiery flames his messengers. 

There can be no doubt that all these human improve- 
ments are under the special direction of a superintending 
Providence. He has not so vastly increased the means 
of going " to and fro," without a design that knowledge 
shall increase and speedily cover the earth. The pres- 
ent accessibleness of the world for all the appliances by 
which it is to be converted, is exceedingly interesting. 
What surer indication can we have that God is about to 
do a great work among the nations of the earth ! Infinite 
Wisdom prepares not his instrumentalities in vain. 
" The earth helps the woman," by doing the most expen- 
sive part of missionary labor in providing the facilities of 
conveyance and intercourse. But I pass to our next 
particular, which is of a kindred character. 

5. I should be overlooking what will doubtless, in a 
few years, be regarded as an exceedingly interesting item 
in the annals of international improvement, if I did not 
allude, at least, to two contemplated works which are 
destined to produce tremendous transformations in the 
political and moral world. I mean the joining of the At- 
lantic and Pacific Oceans, and the Mediterranean and 
Red Seas by means of ship canals. 

The practicability of the latter of these enterprises, as 
to any physical obstructions, has not, as 1 am aware, been 
called in question. And misgivings, as to the former, 
have been quite removed by the late surveys of Mr. Bai- 
ley, a half-pay British officer. The proximity of the two 
oceans between North and South America, the interposi- 

15 



170 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

tion of lake Nicaragua, and the river San Juan, occupy- 
ing a greater portion of this route, and the singular depres- 
sion, at this place, of the Andes, are obvious indications 
of Providence pointing out this to be a future highway 
for the nations. # The navigation of the globe is, at pres- 
ent, impeded by formidable obstacles. Not a vessel from 
either of the great maritime nations can now visit Asia 
or the Pacific ocean, without first doubling the tempestu- 
ous Cape of Good Hope, or the more tempestuous Horn, 
and by a circuitous route of several thousand miles. 
One half the time and expense of navigation, and more 
than one half the danger, will be removed the day the 
above named passages be opened. 

Columbus saw this, and sought a passage to the Pacific 
between the two continents. The Spaniards, sensible of 
its advantages, have, from time to time, projected plans 
for its accomplishment. The governments of Central 
America have proposed schemes for which they have 
asked the co-operation of the United States, and the 
Netherlands. The American Senate, and the courts of 
Europe, have accorded to it, in some degree at least, the 
importance it may claim. Readily has it been acknowl- 
edged to be " the mightiest event in favor of the peaceful 
intercouse of nations, which the physical circumstances 
of the globe present to the enterprise of man." 

The influence of this enterprise, if once completed, (the 
cost of which is estimated at not above twenty-five mill- 
ions of dollars,) would be vast beyond conception. It 
would soon bring the moral and political wastes of Cen- 
tral America into the pale of civilization and a pure 
Christianity. It would bring the present semi-barbarous 
and unproductive provinces of the whole western coast 
of America, from Patagonia to Bhering Straits, into the 
family of nations, develop the vast resources which these 
immense territories are capable of contributing to na- 
tional wealth and influence, and thus vastly enhance the 
resources of the world for the accomplishment of any 
great moral enterprise. 



* Similar remarks might be made respecting a passage for a rail-way through the 
Rocky mountains. 



ISTHMUS OF SUEZ. 171 

That garden of the world, though now overrun, phys- 
ically, morally, and politically, with a useless, if not nox- 
ious growth of most unlovely luxuriance, where once 
flourished the magnificent cities of Copan, Palenque, and 
Aztalan, would again smile with its marts of trade ; and 
its beautiful plains be covered with the sure tokens of im- 
provement and prosperity. There would, as it were, be 
added to the world a vast accession of territory and pop- 
ulation. Numerous nations and tribes ; immense bodies 
of the human race, would, by this means, be inducted into 
the rank of nations, improved, assimilated, and prepared 
to act in concert for the general advancement of the 
world.* 

Similar remarks might be offered in reference to the 
other great enterprise — the connecting the Mediterranean 
and Red seas at the Isthmus of Suez. But I pass on. 

Is that, I ask, a visionary expectation, which antici- 
pates the time as near, when the steam-ship shall send up 
its dark volumes of smoke among the Andes, or over the 
desert of Egypt ; or disturb, with its impertinent wheels, 
the calm waters of the Pacific ? It is no more visionary 
than (forty years ago) that the Atlantic and the great 
lakes should be connected, or a voyage to India should be 
made by steam. Already is this indicated to be one of 
the great schemes of Providence for the elevation and 
moral improvement of our race. And we may rest as- 
sured that when He shall wish to bring the nations into 
still nearer proximity — when, to accelerate still faster the 
work of the world's amelioration, he will so quicken and 
mature the wisdom and enterprise of man, and so remove 
present political inabilities and obstructions, that this 
" new thing" may be done, and this " way in the wilder- 
ness" be prepared for the redemption of the world. 

• The following is from a report of M. Le Humboldt to the Academy of Science : 
11 The examination of localities, by commission (of the French government,).has termin- 
ated—the result as favorable as expected. The chain of the Cordilleras does not extend, 
as supposed, across the Isthmus, but a valley, very favorable for the operation, has been 
discovered. The natural position of the waters is also favorable. Three rivers, over 
which an easy control may be established, and which may be made partially navigable, 
would be connected with the canal. The excavations necessary would not exceed 
twelve and a half miles. The fall, regulated by four locks, one hundred and thirty- 
eight feet. Total length of the canal, forty-nine miles — width at surface, one hundred 
and thirty-five feet — width at base, fifty-five feet — depth, forty feet — navigable for ves- 
sels of one thousand to one thousand four hundred tons— cost, one hundred and 
twenty-four millions franks." 



172 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

6. The same grand scheme of preparation for the uni- 
versal spread of the gospel, as conducted by the hand of 
an all-controling Providence, is further indicated by the 
extensive commercial relations which England and Amer- 
ica, at present, hold over the whole face of the earth. 

No people can, to any great extent, meet and barter 
their commodities without, at the same time, an inter- 
change of thoughts. Continued commerce will introduce 
into a pagan nation much besides merchandize. The im- 
provements, the literature and science, the manners and 
religion of the more civilized, follow in the wake of their 
commerce. Here, principally, the people of different na- 
tions have the opportunity of free and friendly intercourse. 
Masters of vessels, supercargoes, indeed, men of almost 
every class are, at this day, dispersed through almost 
every nation, province or island — adventurers, agents, 
men, as in the navy, for the protection of commerce, 
functionaries of government — and all these enjoy rare 
opportunities of preparing the way for the glorious gospel. 

And it is a remarkable fact that these rare privileges 
of exerting an influence far and wide on the barbarous 
nations of the earth, are, providentially; confided to the 
hands of the two principal Christian nations. Where 
will you find a people or tribe that sustains no com- 
mercial relation with England or AmeriQa ? To the same 
extent God has confided to these nations the solemn trust 
of acting as the almoners of Heaven's riches to the world. 
If they betray this trust, if they act unworthy this high 
prerogative, God will take it from them and give it to 
whom he shall choose. Yet we cannot contemplate 
such an arrangement without discovering in it a presage 
of speedy and universal good to all people and kindreds 
of the earth. 

7. The extensive establishment over the world of the 
post-office system, is another kindred providential arrange- 
ment of immense moment in the civilization and the 
Christianizing of the world. The mere announcement of 
this may not develop its true importance; yet a mo- 
ment's reflection will assign, among the facilities for the 
spread of the gospel, a high place to an establishment 
which enables men, dwelling at the two extremities of the 



VAST INCREASE OF WEALTH. 173 

earth, to transact business, and interchange thoughts and 
feelings. But for the post-office, the facilities afforded for 
the amelioration of the world by means of our extended 
navigation ; our commercial relations ; the wide preva- 
lence of the English language ; and a tendency among 
unevangelized nations to imitate the manners and imbibe 
the sentiments of the more civilized nations, would, to a 
great extent, be neutralized. 

8. Finally, we must not leave out of the account the 
immense accessions of wealth which have recently been, 
and which are still being, brought to light. To pass over 
the exhaustless treasures which have within a few years 
been discovered in coal deposits and beds of iron, some 
extending hundreds of miles, (as in Illinois and Missouri,) 
remarkable discoveries have of late been made of the more 
precious metals and minerals, which have of a sudden 
added immensely to the pecuniary resources of the World. 
In the interior of Africa, near Gossan, on the eastern side 
of the Sommat, and also on the banks of the Gamamil, 
gold has recently been discovered by Russian engineers 
in the service of the Egyptian government, which ex- 
ceeds in abundance and richness the far famed mines of 
Siberia, and threaten to rival the wonderful discoveries 
of California. Gold has also been recently found in the 
island of Borneo, in different parts of Europe, in Rhode 
Island, New Jersey, North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, 
and in other places of the United States, and in Canada ; 
new discoveries in Mexico and Central America, to say 
nothing of the inexhaustless treasures of the world-famed 
California and Oregon. Yet it is, perhaps, more to our 
purpose to notice the late discoveries of minerals and 
metals which are usually esteemed less precious. An ex- 
ceedingly rich silver mine has just been opened in Spain, 
and another in California. Coal has been found abund- 
antly on Vancouver's island, just in the right spot to pro- 
vide for the steam navigation of the Pacific, when the 
new route to the " Indies" shall be opened over the Amer- 
ican continent — Missouri and Illinois supplying in their 
place. Cobalt has just been found in Cornwall, England, 
— a dying material which produces the splendid Tyrian 
purple, and is, ounce for ounce, of equal value with gold. 

15* 



174 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

And a valuable spring of mineral oil, or naptha, has been 
discovered in a coal pit near Alfreton, Derbyshire. Be- 
sides gold and silver, the mineral wealth of New Mexico 
and California is immense ; mineral springs, salt in the 
greatest abundance, platina, till of late worth its weight 
in gold, mercury, copper in vast quantities, iron ore and 
coal. All these vast resources of nature, so long hid 
from the research of man, are brought to light now for 
some purpose. They have been kept safely treasured up 
in the capacious store-house of the great Proprietor till 
he has need of them. 

But I will pursue the subject no farther at present. A 
few brief reflections urge themselves upon us. 

1. The tremendous responsibility of England and 
America. The destiny of the world is, under God, sus- 
pended on the course of conduct which they pursue. If 
they act decidedly in favor of a sound morality and pure 
religion ; if they hesitate not to use, in all proper ways, 
their immense advantages to fill the world with blessings, 
they may wield a moral power for its renovation, such as 
no nation could at any former period. The resources of 
these two nations, in wealth and territory ; in power ; in 
learning and truth ; in useful arts and inventions ; in in- 
dustry and enterprise ; in almost every thing needed to 
secure influence abroad, are enormous. But why has 
God committed to their hands such prodigious resources ? 
Doubtless that they may fulfill his designs in the renova- 
tion of the world. If they are faithless here, God will 
not hold them guiltless. The nation or kingdom that will 
not serve Him shall perish. 

2. The responsibility of travelers, visitors, and sojourn- 
ers in foreign lands. They appear abroad as the repre- 
sentatives of Christianity. Nations less civilized, and 
debased by a false religion, estimate the value of Chris- 
tianity very much as they see it exemplified in the every- 
day life of those calling themselves Christians. How im- 
portant, then, that Christian travelers and sojourners 
among such nations, should not m^-represent our religion 
and its thousand concomitant blessings. And on the 
other hand, no class of persons may be so extensively 
and permanently useful as they who have it in their power 



REFLECTIONS. 175 

to be examples of Christian faith and practice among 
unevangelized nations, and who may introduce among 
them the better manners and customs, and the comforts 
and improvements in common life which obtain among 
Christian nations. 

3. We have here forcibly urged on us the duty we 
owe to sailors. No class of men may on the one hand 
do more mischief abroad, or on the other, more effectually 
carry out the purposes of divine mercy towards our 
world, than they " who go down to the sea in ships, who do 
business in great waters." Their field is peculiarly the 
world. Let them go forth sanctified men, everywhere 
zealous for the honor of their God, and their influence 
will be immense beyond calculation. 

4. With what pleasing interest and p~ ofound solemnity 
ought we to regard the present condi? on of the world ! 
Never before has God provided such r -sources for its re- 
covery. Never before has he brough' it into a position 
so favorable to receive the truth, and never imposed on 
his people so solemn obligations. W* at thrilling motives 
have we here to action! Are we servants of Christ? 
Never were we more encouraged, o? so loudly called on 
to live for our Divine Master. Are we permitted to co- 
operate with God ? Never before were we urged on by 
such irresistible arguments. If God is making a short 
work on the earth, — if He is consummating his plans 
with unprecedented and glorious rapidity, how ought we 
to double our diligence, that we may keep pace with his 
stately steppings. 



CHAPTER X. 

Hand of God in facilities and resources. General peace. Progress of knowledge, 
civilization and freedom. The three great obstacles essentially removed, Paganism, 
the Papacy and Mohammedanism. 

u Behold I will do a new thing — / will even make a way in the 
wilderness ', and rivers in the desert." Isa. xliii. 19. 

Providence makes no vain preparations. The end is 
never less sublime than is indicated by the beginning. 
Immense facilities now exist for the general diffusion of 
the gospel. I have named the unwonted acquisition of 
territory by the two great Protestant nations, and their 
extraordinary supremacy among the nations of the earth 
— the prevalence of the English language — a disposition 
to adopt European manners, habits and dress, to be ben- 
efited by the improvements of Christian nations, and to 
be governed by their laws — modern improvements in 
modes of conveyance — the extensive commercial rela- 
tions of the two great Christian nations, and the present 
extensive arrangements for social and international com- 
munication by means of posts. I shall now adduce two 
or three particulars more. 

8. The general peace, which at present pervades the 
earth, furnishes another facility for the universal extension 
of our religion. This is purely providential, and is a. 
harbinger of prosperity to Zion. The temple of Janus 
has been shut more than a quarter of a century ; during 
which there has been no general war, and the partial war- 
fares which have been carried on, have been peculiarly 
overruled to the spread of the gospel. 

When God was about to bring his Son into the world, 
he hushed the world into peace — -committed the govern- 
ment of the earth principally to one nation, whose head, 
unlike his predecessors, loved peace more than conquest. 
Here, under God, lay hid the mystery of the rapidity with 
which the gospel spread in the days of the apostles. The 
wings of the Roman eagle were spread to protect her 
citizens at the farthest verge of the known world. When 



GENERAL PEACE. 177 

Paul said, I am a Roman citizen, he found protection 
amidst the mob. Under the benign auspices of the Au- 
gustan age, the gospel had free course and was glorified. 

Again has the clangor of battle ceased — except it be 
as the distant murmur of waters in some dark cavern. 
No more do we hear the thunder of the battle-field, or 
" see garments rolled in blood." But who hath stationed 
his angels at " the four corners of the earth to hold the 
four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on 
the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any green tree" — -giving 
the w r orld another respite from the turmoil and confusion 
of war ? And for what purpose, if not that the everlast- 
ing gospel may be preached to all nations and kindreds, 
and God's elect be sealed ? The moment the torch of 
war be lighted, and hostile armies invade a nation, the 
banners of the Cross are furled. Thus is the mighty arm 
of God made bare, to restrain the wrath of man, and to 
give protection and success to his servants. 

The demon of war is only restrained, not annihilated. 
In the far distant, and scarcely below the horizon, the 
dark cloud of war is still lying. Ever and anon, as if 
resting on the bosom of troubled waters, its black folds 
loom above the line of vision, and threaten a storm. Yet 
it soon disappears beneath its own native billows, and the 
sun of peace again shines. Then again it sends up its 
lurid fires, and its distant thunders roar. Yet we have, 
at least for a little space longer, security, in the dispensa- 
tions of Providence, that the days of the Divine forbear- 
ance are not yet past. ; The principal nations of the 
earth are strangely bound together by mutual ties of 
friendship, philanthropy and interest. If there was at 
this time no other security for a general peace, we have 
a strong one in the commercial relations, w T hich exist be- 
tween the principal nations. The capital embarked by 
these nations in commerce, to say nothing of benevolence, 
is as bonds given by them to keep the peace of the world. 
War would not only peril a vast amount of their property, 
but would destroy a good trade. England might almost 
as well sack and burn Liverpool as New- York — Russia 
as well make St. Petersburg the spoil of war as London. 

9. Again is the hand of God strikingly visible in the 



178 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

present advanced and the yet advancing condition of knowl- 
edge, civilization and freedom.. In these respects, too, 
God has brought the world into a posture favorable to 
the progress of Christianity. 

Christianity is by no means a religion of ignorance and 
barbarism. It luxuriates in the light ; walks hand in hand 
with learning, and only brings forth its fruit in all its na- 
tive richness, when nurtured in the genial soil of civiliza- 
tion and freedom. 

Now, if, on looking abroad in the world, you discover 
an advanced and a yet advancing state of these three 
great auxiliaries and accompaniments of a manly, well 
developed, all-commanding piety, are you not to regard 
them as tokens of providential schemes about to be carried 
out, and as monitions to duty, and facilities for executing 
the plans of Heaven in setting up Messiah's kingdom on 
earth ? 

The present progress in knowledge finds no parallel in 
any preceding age of the world. Learning, heretofore, 
had been confined not only to a few nations, but to a few 
individuals of these nations. Now, there is something 
approximating a universal diffusion of knowledge. There 
are few people or tribes in whose bosom there has not, 
within the last twenty years, been kindled an unwonted 
ambition to be able to read, and become acquainted, at 
least, with the rudiments of useful knowledge. The pro- 
gress of truth, whether as to facts or principles, whether 
in the sciences or in the practical affairs of life, has 
within a few years past been astonishingly onward. Fic- 
tion, romance, legendary tales, gross superstitions, Pagan 
mythology, which but a short time since held such bane- 
ful supremacy over the mind of the vast majority of man- 
kind, have, to no inconsiderable extent, given place to the 
desire and pursuit of rational knowledge. 

It is but a few years since the literary trumpery of Pa- 
ganism — the Koran and Sonnah of the Mahomedans, the 
Targums and Talmuds of the Jews, and the nonsensical 
traditions, legends, and ghostly tales of Romanism, en- 
grossed nearly all the learning in the world. Truth stood 
alone, and was desolate. She sighed in vain for any to 
do her reverence, while the world was gone after fiction 



ADVANCE OF KNOWLEDGE. 179 

and falsehood. History, philosophy, geography, physics, 
metaphysics and theology, were unknown, except as dimly 
seen, befogged and mystified in the sacred books of pa- 
ganism. Socrates fell a martyr to true science. The 
Copernican system of the heavenly bodies, at a much 
later date, was condemned as a heresy, by the sapient 
Inquisition of the seventeenth century : and Galileo, for 
certain astronomical discoveries made by his newly con- 
structed telescope, and w T hich went to confirm the Coper- 
nican heresy, was condemned, by the same ghostly court, 
to all the horrors of perpetual banishment, and forced to 
purchase his liberty by retracting his opinions. Virgilius, 
archbishop of Saultzburgh, was excommunicated by the 
Church of Rome, and Spigelius, archbishop of Upsal in 
Sweden, suffered martyrdom at the stake for entertaining 
the theory of the spherical form of the earth. The dis- 
coveries and signal advances made in science by the 
immortal Bacon, were believed by his ignorant cotem- 
poraries to be the works of magic. They were denounced 
to the court of Rome as "his dangerous opinions and 
astonishing operations," attributing them to the agency 
of the devil. The great adversary of human knowledge 
and of the immortal soul had almost completely monopo- 
lized the mind of the entire family of man. He had 
either buried it in sordid ignorance, or, if he could not 
repress its deathless activity, he had prostituted its ener- 
gies to purposes the most vile and worthless. 

But the infernal chain is now, measurably, broken ; 
man is intellectually emancipated ; there is freedom of 
thought, freedom of research, and full scope given to all 
the inventive and acquisitive powers of mind. 

Late advancements in science have vastly facilitated 
all the operations of life, and thrown open to the unre- 
stricted range of the mind, fields of immeasurable knowl- 
edge. Astronomy has brought within the scope of our 
intellectual vision boundless fields, all radiant with starry 
gems, which, when plied with telescopic aid, become a 
resplendent galaxy of worlds, all fitted up for the habita- 
tion and happiness of immortal beings like ourselves. 
Nothing, perhaps, like these discoveries, enlarges the 
boundaries of human thought, elevates man above him- 



ISO HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

self — makes him feel the original nobility of his nature — 
the divine lineage of his race, and at the same time, that 
he is but a speck of wide creation, a polluted speck of 
insignificance : — nothing so effectually magnifies in his 
estimation the great and eternal God, or gives him such 
sublime, extatic ideas of the magnificent empire over 
which God sways the sceptre, and of the importance of 
His law, and the necessity that he sustain its awful 
sanctions — nothing so makes guilty man feel how unpar- 
donable his guilt, how fearful his condition — how infinite 
are God's resources by which to make his enemies 
wretched or his friends happy. 

Had science done no more than to spread out before 
us the fields developed by modern astronomy, it would 
deserve a mention in this connection. It presents man, 
in his relations to the universe, as a nobler being. It 
furnishes his devotion with new motives. It creates in- 
creased incentives to Christian activity. It enhances in 
our esteem the value of the immortal soul. If to be allied 
to a king be an honor — if to be the son of an earthly po- 
tentate furnish motives strong enough to move the whole 
soul, what is it to be allied to, to be Son of the great 
King ? heir of the only Potentate, the King of kings and 
the Lord of lords? A science which throws open to us 
so much of the material magnificence of Jehovah, can- 
not, w r hen sanctified, but make the Christian a more no- 
ble, devoted, active being, and cherish a caste of piety 
more efficient for the conversion of the world. 

But there are sciences of less pretension, whose late 
progress yet more directly contributes to the advance- 
ment and permanent establishment of Christianity. We 
cannot contemplate recent advancements in philosophy, 
natural history, geography, chemistry, mineralogy, ge- 
ology, or the many useful discoveries and inventions of a 
few past years, or the present condition of religious 
knowledge or biblical study, without the delightful con- 
viction that Christianity is fast gathering strength, and 
rallying her forces for the conquest of the world. 

The inventions of human skill ; the applications of 
science and knowledge to the useful purposes of life, con 
tribute to the comfort, convenience and improvement of 



THE USES OF SCIENCE. 181 

man ; facilitate his labor, multiply his resources, and 
make him a nobler and more influential being; better 
fitted to serve his God, and to do good to man. By these 
means the use of minerals and metals are brought to his 
aid ; new substances are discovered, and new uses ascer- 
tained of those already known ; his wealth is increased, 
and of consequence his means of doing good. Jn his 
improved condition man is another kind of being ; belongs 
to another order of things — which, under the reign of the 
Messiah, God is about to introduce. 

The earth is a vast magazine. Treasured in its bowels 
are minerals, metals and precious stones, which, when 
drawn out and wrought and applied to use, become the 
means of almost every improvement which distinguishes 
a barbarous from a civilized, intelligent and free people. 
Instruments, machinery, weapons of war and peace, ma- 
terials and apparatus for book-making, publishing and 
circulation ; the means of navigation, and of locomotion 
on land and through the air, and all the manifold ma- 
chinery which augments the energies, increases the com- 
forts and promotes the general improvement of mankind, 
are drawn out of the earth. Geography ascertains their 
location, natural history, in her departments of geology 
and mineralogy, penetrates the earth and points them out 
to the research and skill of man. Chemistry there erects 
her laboratory, and by a great variety of patient and inter- 
esting experiments, ascertains their properties and capa- 
bilities, and takes cognizance of their changes ; while 
natural philosophy steps in to point out the phenomena, 
which, in different aspects and changes they exhibit, the 
laws by which they are governed, and the uses to which 
they may be applied. But for the aid of these sciences, 
in searching out and applying the properties of the mag- 
net, the mariner would have still been feeling his way 
along his native shore. The few books we should have 
would be executed by the tedious and expensive process 
of the pen ; and for the want of an acquaintance with the 
uses of iron, we should be thrown back into the darkness 
of barbarism. The inventions and discoveries which 
now so much bless the world and favor the improvement 

16 



1S2 II VXD OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

of man. would never have been made.* America and 
many islands of the sea, and other large territories, had 
not been discovered. Most of the world had remained a 
bleak waste, a roaming ground for a few savages ; and 
the few nations which, from natural proximity, would 
form some neighborhood relations, had been raised but 
little above a state of barbarism. Commercial relations 
had not existed ; and nearly all the advantages derived 
from international communication had been wanting. 
The interchange of thoughts by means of books, travel- 
ing and commerce would be almost unknown. Isolated 
man would never rise above the in statu quo position of 
his insignificance and ignorance. 

If, under God, the plastic hand of science has done so 
much already, to re-mould and improve the world ; so 
much to prepare the nations to receive the gospel and to 
facilitate its diffusion, while, as yet, science itself has been 
but half fledged for its more adventurous flight, what 
may we not expect through her instrumentality, when 
she shall arrive at the state of perfection towards which 
she is so rapidly tending? Nature has but begun to yield 
up her resources to facilitate the progress of human cul- 
ture and moral improvement. Science but begun to ap- 
propriate these resources to the universal amelioration of 
our race. Yet already we see enough to confirm the 
hopes of expectant piety and our confidence in God's un- 
erring word, that Providence is gathering up his resources, 
and preparing his machinery for a mighty onward move- 
ment in the work of redemption. 

That the condition of the world is rapidly advancing, 
is not only the hope of many, and the general expectation 
of all, but there are yet more tangible grounds for our 
anticipations. There has recently grown up in the heart 
of man almost everywhere a strange and unprecedented 
sensibility to all that pertains to the best interests of man. 

* Few are aware of the immense and multifarious facilities and resources which 
have been furnished through science, to counteract physical evil, to improve the condi- 
tion of society ; to promote social and domestic enjoyment, and to facilitate the pro- 
gress of the race in every useful and ornamental art. Among these we may name the 
steam for locomotion ; gas for lights and balloons ; Davy's safety lamp ; the cotton 
gin; magnetic telegraphs, mariner's compass, &c. 

The Millenium may be less a result of supernaiural agency than is generally supposed. 



THE SCIENCE OF ETHNOLOGY. 183 

Is there a vice that afflicts humanity, that vice is assailed 
as an enemy of the race. Is there oppression, persecu- 
tion, ignorance, superstition ; any foe to the progress and 
well-being of man, the genius of modern philanthropy is 
instantly roused in remonstrance, and fired with indigna- 
tion, and demands redress, the expulsion and decapitation 
of the foe. So prevalent and all-controlling is such a 
sentiment now, that Mammon and Infidelity itself are 
obliged to render homage to it. Infidelity no longer sits 
growling in the cavern of his dark misanthropy. He 
sees -he must come out and mingle with his race, and put 
on the garments of charity. He appears in the stolen 
robes of Christianity, the philanthropist, the reformer, 
the Christian. His virulence has taken the form of com- 
passion for man. The advancement and highest inter- 
ests of his race are his ostensible aim. Though he strike 
with the same weapon, his sword is unsheathed for truth ; 
though he kill with the same poison, it is poison disguised 
in the sweets of paradise. 

But the thought presents itself in a more pleasing 
aspect. The human intellect and human research are, 
at the present day, remarkably employed in promoting a 
common brotherhood of our race, and in advancing its 
highest interests. Late advances, not only in the sciences 
of history, geography and philosophy, but yet more in 
archeology, comparative philology, and, especially, in eth- 
nology, are most effectually contributing to bring all the 
kindreds and tribes of the great family of man unto one 
great brotherhood, and to protect and advance the in- 
terests of every member. The new science of ethnol- 
ogy, for the cultivation of which there is already a re- 
spectable organization in this country, is peculiarly pro- 
ducing such a result. For the object of this science, as 
the name imports, is the study of man as a social being ; 
as the member of a family, tribe, or nation. Whatever 
relates to man in his physical being ; his races, habits, 
locations, sustenance or language ; and all that connects 
the present and past generations as component parts of 
the one great human family; their intellectual efforts, 
their sciences, their struggles, their progress of develop- 
ment, are comprised in the objects of this science. " It 



184 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

is the science and history of the human race itself, and 
of the relations in which it stands towards itself, and 
towards the external world." 

Never before was science contributing so generously 
to prepare the world for its universal emancipation. 
Railways, steamships, magnetic telegraphs, are penetra- 
ting into and astounding the most benighted regions. 
" Franklin drew the lightning from the clouds, but Morse 
gave it voice, and bade it go forth and speak to every 
nation, and kindred, and tongue. It is the voice which 
is to enter the darkest recesses of the heathen world and 
teach them how degradingly they contrast with the 
genius which gave it utterance." 

The advanced state of knowledge here supposed, is 
necessary to the full development and revelation of truth. 
Even the written revelation is to us, and has been in all 
passed ages, a progressive revelation. As God had regard 
to the then condition of society, the existing condition of 
knowledge, civilization and improvement, in originally 
making known his will, imparting the light as the world 
was able to receive it ; in like manner the book contain- 
ing this revelation, emits more or less light, according to 
the existing condition of the human mind and the human 
heart, and according to the advanced condition of the 
world. The sun always shines the same, though the 
quantity of sunshine we may enjoy, will vary as clouds 
intercept our rays. Truth is the same, however different 
may be the quantity apprehended by us. 

Biblical knowledge, the science of theology, has also 
wonderfully advanced within the few past years. Bibli- 
cal researches have been casting new light on the sacred 
page, or rather educing new light from it. The most 
laudable progress is now making in those collateral 
studies which bring us to the study of the Bible with new 
interest and zest, and make the sacred volume the repos- 
itory to us of more available truth than it has ever been 
before. The true principles of interpretation are being 
better understood ; the most pleasing advances have re- 
cently been made in sacred geography, history and arch- 
eology ; and thus the Bible is made to shed a clearer and 
a more profuse light ; duty becomes plainer and more im- 



CIVILIZATION ADVANCING. 185 

perative ; the promises richer and more comprehensive ; 
the threatenings more terrific ; God more lovely to the 
obedient, more dreadful to the wicked. The motives 
for extending the gospel are increased, and the guilt of 
neglect v aggravated. Again, the Bible has been transla- 
ted into more than one hundred and sixty different lan- 
guages, enabling as many tribes and nations to read the 
word of God in the tongue in which they were born. 
Already is the Bible unsealed to every principal nation 
on earth. 

Or if we turn to the execution of our benevolent pur- 
poses in spreading the gospel, we shall not the less feel 
our indebtedness, under God, to the facilities in question. 
It is only among a free, intelligent, and civilized people, 
that are found the qualifications and resources for appre- 
ciating and prosecuting the work of Foreign Missions. 
In no other work is there brought in requisition such a 
combination of moral, mental and physical power. 

Learning of all sorts is now, to an unprecedented ex- 
tent, made to subserve the cause of truth. Eloquence, 
poetry, history, literature, science, the arts and philoso- 
phy, are all made to contribute their respective quotas to 
defend, enrich, adorn and advance the truth. 

We are also indebted to modern improvements for the 
cheapness and rapidity with which books are made and 
circulated in every nook and corner of the earth. A 
single Bible Society manufactures a thousand Bibles a 
day. Yet we have by no means arrived at perfection 
here. All these improvements are progressive, and are 
yearly progressing. And we should indeed be blind to 
the movements of an ever-busy Providence, if we did 
not discern in them mighty preparations for the onward 
progress of His cause. 

And so I may say in respect to the present advanced 
and advancing state of civilization. Never before was 
the world so nearly civilized; and never so many and 
such powerful means at work to make civilization uni- 
versal. The political, literary and commercial suprem- 
acy of the two or three most civilized nations, cannot 
but exert a powerful influence on the whole barbarian 

16* 



186 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

world, to which they either give law or hold in some sort 
of dependence. 

The bearing of this on the spread of the gospel, is too 
obvious to need comment. It prepares the way of the 
Lord before him. It provides a soil made ready for the 
good seed. It furnishes the resources by which to sus- 
tain the institutions of Christianity when once established, 
and to make it permanent, and to extend its blessings 
over fields which lie still beyond. Both the agency and 
the design of Providence are here abundantly obvious. 

There remains one other particular not to be over- 
looked : It is the advanced and the still advancing progress 
of freedom. Christianity has as little affinity to despot- 
ism and tyranny, as to ignorance and barbarism ; and we 
cannot but hail, as especially auspicious to the diffusion 
of the gospel, every advancement in the cause of free- 
dom. But as we turn our eyes again towards the revolv- 
ing wheels of Providence, what do we find God hath 
wrought here ? How is he already bringing the nations 
of the earth into a state that shall give to the Prince 
of Peace, and to the religion of meekness and mercy, an 
unmolested dwelling on earth. 

Political liberty has, within a few years, made rapid 
advances. Government has become a science. The 
will of an individual has ceased to be law. It is now 
very generally conceded that the design of government 
is to secure the welfare of the governed. Not a poten- 
tate in Europe can sit on his throne without conceding 
in some form this principle. Absolute despotism is al- 
most antiquated. "A monster of so frightful mein," has 
slunk away before the light of liberty, into the dark 
regions of ignorance and barbarism. The public senti- 
ment of mankind has undergone an astonishing revolu- 
tion during the last century. The progress of free prin- 
ciples has been by no means confined to America. The 
seed which took such deep root in the bosoms of the 
Puritans of the seventeenth century, had, if not so rapid 
and ostensible, as sure and sturdy, a growth in Europe as 
in America. Here, committed to an unoccupied soil, 
they took readier root, and sprung up more luxuriantly ; 
there they struck their roots not the less deep, or ascended 



THE LATE POPE, AND LIBERTY. 187 

with not the less perseverance, though obstructed in 
their ascent by a previous growth. 

Since the upheaving of Europe, by the wars of Napo- 
leon Bonaparte, there is not a nation in Europe which 
has not made progress in liberal principles. All things 
have been verging towards constitutional and represen- 
tative government. Revolutions in France, Prussia, 
Saxony, Spain and Portugal, cannot be mistaken, as out- 
bursts of the pent up spirit of liberty. And so we may 
say of the late revolutionary movements in Ireland, 
Scotland, Germany, Switzerland, and even in Italy. 
They are the upheavings of the suppressed fires of lib- 
erty, giving no doubtful premonitions of the no distant 
downfall of the grim throne of despotism. 

The policy pursued by the present Pope pays a hom- 
age to liberty which we scarcely expected. Driven by 
the force of public sentiment, and the conviction of an 
advanced condition of the world in point of liberty, the 
Pope of unchanging Rome so far changes the policy of 
Rome as to make a sort of concession to constitutional 
government, and to grant his subjects a sort of constitu- 
tion ; and in some other respects to relax the rigid mus- 
cles of despotism which have always characterized Rome. 
We will not accept this as an index, that Rome has at 
heart changed, but that the world has changed, and that 
Rome feels if she would live in the world, she must, in 
some degree, conform herself to the advanced condition 
in which she finds the world. Had we been ignorant 
before of the present progress of liberty and the increase 
of light in the world, the line of policy pursued by the 
present Pope would keep us informed on these matters. 
As a concession to these degenerate times of liberal prin- 
ciples, Pius IX. has instituted a system of national repre- 
sentation in the shape of a council of delegates from the 
different provinces, who are to assemble at Rome for the 
purpose of discussing with the government the affairs of 
the administration, and aiding it in its efforts for the good 
of the people. This measure has been hailed by the Pope's 
subjects with the liveliest demonstrations of joy and 
thanksgiving. And well it might be ; for this was a new 
thing from the pontifical throne. In the palmier days of 



188 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

Rome, despotism and darkness were the order of Papal 
rule. Then the Scriptures and the Fathers of the Church 
were quoted as proof that Columbus was a heretic and an 
infidel for suggesting there was another continent ; and a 
clergyman actually published a sermon to show that Jen- 
ner. for endeavoring to check the ravages of the small- 
pox, was the beast of the Apocalypse. 

The present popular movement of Italy is a matter of 
intense interest to the whole Christian world. It looks 
like the precursor of an explosion which shall blow to 
atoms the throne of despotism throughout Europe. The 
times are ominous of eventful changes in Europe. Aus- 
tria, and all Catholic Germany is rocked on a volcano. 
The stagnations of Spain and Portugal are moving, and 
France seems every year approaching nearer the verge 
of revolution. "Indeed," says Dr. Baird, "I think that 
all continental Europe is going to be shaken to its' very 
centre before many years pass away." # 

Late acts of toleration in Turkey, India and China, 
herald the approach of universal freedom. The Emperor 
of China has recently issued an edict, in reply to the pe- 
tition of Keying, High Imperial Commissioner, granting 
toleration to Christianity* The law of inheritance in In- 
dia has recently been so modified as to remove the former 
disabilities which Hindoos suffered on becoming Chris- 
tians. Caste is no longer a legal disability. Young Hin- 
doos from mission schools are alike eligible to office with 
those from government schools. And the Sultan of the 
Turkish empire has favored a system of respresentative 
government and of common-school education ; and more 
recently the Sublime Porte has issued an order for the 
protection, as Protestants, of the evangelical Armenians. 
A hatti sherif (order of the cabinet) was issued by the 
Sublime Porte in 1841, placing all the inhabitants of the 
Turkish empire upon a footing of equal rights. And 
though insurmountable difficulties to its execution have as 
yet stood in the way, it is a presage of the rising spirit of 
liberty, even in that most despotic nation. And more re- 
cently still — at the late annual feast called " Courban 

* These pages were penned before the eventful Revolution of 1848. 



PROGRESS OF LIBERTY. 189 

Beiram" — an imperial order was issued, constituting the 
Protestant subjects of the empire into a separate and in- 
dependent community, like that of the Armenians, Greeks 
or Latins. 

" Reform/' says Mr. Dwight, " is the order of the day 
in every department of the Government. The Sultan 
and his ministers are laboring to do away with old abuses, 
and to secure to every man his rights. The power of 
inflicting capital punishment for apostasy from Moham- 
medanism, has been taken away from the Turk ; and the 
Sultan has given a solemn pledge to the English embas- 
sador, that there shall be no more religious persecution in 
his Empire. Sir Statford Canning is disposed to stand 
firmly on this ground, and insist on it as a conceded right, 
that men shall not persecute for religious opinion." 

In Hungary, the law against entering the Protestant 
communion is abrogated. Every inhabitant may adopt 
which church he please, Romish or Protestant, without 
annoyance. Under the former law of intolerance, eight 
hundred to one thousand Protestants embraced Popery 
yearly ; under the law of tolerance, nine hundred Roman- 
ists in one year have come over to the Reformed faith, 
and only thirty-five have gone to Romanism. And what 
is much in point here, and truly surprising, the cabinet of 
Vienna abrogated the oppressive law. 

There has, too, during the same period, been a corres- 
ponding movement to loose the chains of personal bond- 
age. The time was when one half of the world might 
kidnap and enslave, under circumstances which makes 
the blood run cold in its currents, the other half, reduce 
them to "durance vile," and continue them in cruel 
bondage at pleasure, and yet scarcely a whisper of re- 
monstrance be raised in defence of rights so egregiously 
violated. But another spirit is now moving on the face 
of the deep. It is the spirit of universal freedom. Slavery 
is fast passing away, to be numbered among the works of 
darkness that were — a relic of barbarism. The jubilee- 
trumpet sounded, in 1834, throughout the realms of the 
British empire. The West Indies were made free; and 
since that time the same glad sound has been heard in 
India ; at Malacca, Penang and Singapore ; among the 



190 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

forty-five millions of the serfs of Russia ; in Wallachia ; 
at Algiers, and among the Moors at the strong piratical 
haunt at Tunis ; in the republic of Uruguay and Monte- 
video. South America, and on the island of Trinidad. The 
slave trade has been abolished by the Imaum of Muscat, 
the Shah of Persia, and throughout the Turkish empire. 

It was announced some time ago that the slave trade 
had been abolished by the Bey of Tunis. It now appears 
that, slavery is fast coming to an end there. A letter 
from Malta, 1842, says, "I went, while in Tunis, to see 
the demolished slave market. Hundreds of years, human 
beings had been exposed for sale in that place, like cattle. 
How strange, that a Mussulman state should tear down 
that den of traffick for the bodies and souls of men, while 
in Christian America this foul system still flourishes in 
such vigor ! I made many inquiries as to the feeling of 
the Moors on this subject. I am most happy to say that 
the greater part are in favor of the Bey, while all obey. 
If slaves are now sold in Tunis, it is contraband, and with 
the greatest secresy. The prohibition is complete a$d 
absolute. And many of the courtiers of the Bey, follow- 
ing his noble example, are liberating their slaves." 

The General Assembly of Wallachia having passed an 
act of emancipation, March, 1847, Prince Bibesco, (the 
head of the government,) with whom this truly magnan- 
imous act of philanthropy originated, thanked the head of 
the Church and the Assembly for having passed a law 
which, as he said, the spirit of the age and the progress 
of civilization had so long demanded. 

The French Chambers have begun the work of eman- 
cipation in their colonies. Indeed, the whole world is 
coming to a sense of justice on this subject — not only 
Christendom, but Moslems and barbarians. The slave 
trade, with almost united voice, is branded as piracy by 
all nations. Indeed, such has become the public senti- 
ment of all Christendom and of the whole civilized world 
on this subject, that no nation may be the supporters and 
abettors of slavery, except at the peril of its good reputa- 
tion. Philanthropy will weep, and humanity will point 
the finger of scorn. 

Other indications that international relations are as- 



PROGRESS OF LIBERTY. 191 

suming an auspicious aspect in respect to the universal 
extension of the gospel, may be read in the records of a 
Congress of nations which from time to time meet to ad- 
just affairs, otherwise adjusted by balls and bayonets — of 
world's Conventions, which do much to cement national 
ties ; and of arbitrations instead of arms, by which to 
compromise disputes. Not long since, commissioners from 
England, Russia, Turkey and Persia met at Erzeroom, 
" to settle disputed boundaries, and to arrange other diffi- 
culties/' 

Nations, that by a proud isolation had strongly barri- 
caded themselves within the walls of a hateful and repul- 
sive despotism, have been invaded by the light of liberty 
and the love of Christianity. Austria, with all her argus- 
eyed vigilance, cannot shut out the all-pervading genius 
of liberty. Already has it cheered with the hope of better 
things, the cottages of the poor, and, with fearful omen, 
looked in at the windows of palaces. And China, though 
ensconced within a yet higher wall, has been compelled 
to surrender, and to condescend to the mutual courtesies 
of national intercourse. Her strong-holds are broken 
down ; her walls of brass are razed ; her gulph of separa- 
tion from European intercourse is bridged. The great 
family of nations, so long estranged, is being drawn to- 
gether, becoming acquainted, and learning their mutual 
duties. The world is becoming free. 

The Press, too, has been emancipated from its former 
shackles ; religion is breaking loose from the domination 
of priestcraft ; opinion is becoming free ; discussion un- 
trammeled ; and the feeling is fast taking possession of 
the human mind, that man must everywhere be free. 

Thus, again, has God prepared his way before him. 
He has made ready the field ; and may we not now ex- 
pect that the Lord of the harvest shall send forth his la- 
borers profusely to scatter the seed, and in due time to 
gather an abundant harvest ? All things are now ready ; 
the hand of the Lord is stretched out, and who shall turn 
it back ? He is preparing the world for the kingdom of 
his Son, and shall not the Prince and the Saviour speedily 
come and take possession ? Ride forth, victorious King, 
conquering and to conquer, till the kingdoms of this world 



192 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

become the kingdom of our Lord. Hushed be the voice 
of war ; palsied be the arm of Despotism, that Religion, 
pure and undefiled, the first-born of Heaven, the immor- 
tal daughter of the skies, may find a peaceful dwelling on 
earth. 

10. I shall advert to but one other particular : Within 
the last generation, God, in the vast revolutions of his prov- 
idence, has removed, to a great extent, the most formidable 
obstacles to the universal spread of the gospel. The mighti- 
est bulwarks behind which Satan has ever intrenched 
himself are Paganism, the religion of Mohammed, and the 
Papacy. The great desideratum in the council-chamber 
of the infernal king has always been how man's innate 
religious feeling should be satisfied, and yet God not be 
served. How could the heart be kept from God, the 
clamors of conscience be silenced, and yet the demands 
of an instinctive religious feeling be answered ? The arch 
enemy of man's immortal hopes solved the problem. The 
solution appears in the cunning devices he has sought 
out by which to beguile unwary souls. He has varied 
his plans to suit times and circumstances, the condition of 
man, the progress of society, the character of human gov- 
ernments, and the condition of the human mind. 

Idolatry, multiform in its systems, yet one in essence 
and spirit, concedes to reason and conscience the exist- 
ence of one supreme God, yet disrobes this divine Being 
of the attributes which make him God, by multiplying 
subordinate deities, attributing to them the most unwor- 
thy characters, and making them the chief objects of 
worship. Knowing God, they glorify him not as God. 

Such a religion was suited to a gross age of the world, 
— an age of subtilty and ambition on the part of a few, 
and superstition, debasement and ignorance on the part 
of the many. But when Christ had come, and new light 
had risen on the world, and the general condition and 
character of man had advanced, the same object was 
gained through two great modifications of idolatry, bet- 
ter adapted to the intellectual and moral condition of the 
world. Western Asia, and a part of Africa, became 
too much illumined by the Sun of Righteousness longer 
to submit to idolatry in its grosser form. Hence for 



OBSTACLES REMOVED. 193 

those regions there was got up a reformed Paganism, 
yclept Mohammedanism, taking the place, and subserving 
the purposes of idolatry in its original form. 

While among the more contemplative nations of Eu- 
rope, where the public mind had become still more en- 
lightened and advanced, and could not be satisfied even 
with Paganism reformed and partly Christianized, Chris- 
tianity had to be paganized. Europe would be Christian. 
So mote it be, said Satan ; and old pagan Rome rose 
again to life by his enchantments, — and he clothed this 
monstrous image in a garb stolen from Heaven's ward- 
robe, and commanded all men to worship it. The reli- 
gion of Rome is the last new edition of the same old 
idolatry, with a new title, amended, enlarged, on finer 
paper, with gilt edging and better bound, suited to the 
spirit and taste of the age. 

These are the three strong-holds of human depravity 
and Satanic power, by which man's arch foe has from 
generation to generation held the human mind in the 
most abject thraldom. 

Now what I affirm, is, that these three enormous sys- 
tems of iniquity are on the wane. Such, in the irresist- 
ible movements of Providence, have been the overturn- 
ings among the nations, that their great power to bind 
and to trample under foot the immortal mind, is broken. 
Paganism is in its dotage. It evidently belongs to a con- 
dition of the world which is rapidly passing away. Mo- 
hammedanism, embodying in itself the seeds of its own 
dissolution, already bears marks of decrepitude, and only 
lives and stands as it is propped up by a little doubtful 
political power. And Romanism, though in its dying 
spasms it ever and anon exhibits an unnatural return of 
former life, presents no doubtful marks of its approaching 
doom. We are not ignorant of the strange phenomena 
at Oxford, or of Rome's unnatural appearance of youth 
and vigor in America. While she is gaining individuals 
in England, and making a desperate struggle to gain a 
foothold in the new world, she is losing whole provinces 
in Europe. Look at the general condition of Romanism. 
How many of its limbs have already perished, — how 
many more are, to all human appearance, doomed to a 

17 



194 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

speedy decay. What mean the ruins of the Papacy over 
a great part of Asia, and in Central and South America ? 
The Inquisition once flourished in India, in all the bloody 
pre-eminence of torture and death ; and China,* and Ja- 
pan, were the arena of numerous and flourishing churches. 
But where now are the walls of its dismal dungeons ; its 
courts of inquest ; the gorgeous palaces of its inquisitors, 
and its horrific implements of torture ? They are crum- 
bled to the dust. The hand of Heaven's vengeance has 
passed over them and left them but the ruined monument 
of deadly intolerance. And what mean those ruined 
heaps of colleges, schools, churches and other public edi- 
fices, met on the islands of Bombay and Salsette, in 
Goozaret, and on the whole western coast of India ? 
Or the vast dilapidations of Central and South America ? 
A late traveler in Central America speaks of passing 
seven ruined churches in a single day, and of finding as 
many more under a single curate. Edifices, two or three 
hundred feet in length, and of proportionate dimensions, 
of solid structure, and costly materials, and elegant archi- 
tecture, once the receptacles of vast multitudes of Rome's 
faithful and most bigoted sons, are either a ruinous heap, 
or the decaying sanctuaries of a miserable remnant of a 
once flourishing church. 

Surely the wheels of Providence are rolling on. Ob- 
stacles which have so long hindered the progress of the 
everlasting gospel, are fast being removed. The arm of 
Omnipotence is made bare. God is doing a " new thing" 
on the earth ; He is "making a way in the wilderness, 
and rivers in the desert." 

In concluding what I designed to say on the facilities, 
which, as results of providential movements, the present 
age affords for the speedy and universal spread of the 
gospel, and the complete establishment of Messiah's king- 
dom, many useful and interesting reflections might be 
appended. The present aspects of Providence towards 



* Such was the success of Popery in China, that many mandarins embraced its 
doctrines ; one province alone contained ninety churches, and forty-five oratories. A 
splendid church was built within the palace. The mother, wife and son of the Empe- 
ror, Yung Ceith, professed Christianity, and China seemed on the eve of being united 
to the papal see. 



RECAPITULATION. 195 

our world are most solemn and delightful. What over- 
powering arguments here, urging us on to duty. Does 
God carry out his plans through human instrumentality ? 
How loudly, then, do the movements of his Providence 
call us to be willing instruments. Never before were we 
so imperatively urged to more fervency of spirit, to more 
diligence in duty. The wheels of Providence now run 
high and fast, leaving behind them more events in ten 
years than was wont a little while ago to transpire in a 
hundred years. 

To give point and pungency to such reflections, allow 
the eye to take a retrograde glance over the extraordi- 
nary providential developments which I have named. 
How singularly has God confided to the two most civil- 
ized and Christian nations, — the Anglo-Saxon race, — 
vast heathen territories, and, by extensive commercial 
relations, connected them with every nation on the 
face of the earth ; how diffused is the English language ; 
how popular European habits, manners and dress, and 
the improvements, experience and laws of civilized na- 
tions ; what unwonted improvements in modes of con- 
veyance, and the facilities of an enlarged post-office sys- 
tem ; how is the clangor of war hushed, and the world 
left in almost universal peace ; what recent advances in 
knowledge, civilization and freedom ; and how has the 
vigor departed from those mighty systems of false reli- 
gions which have heretofore beguiled Christianity of the 
fairest portions of the earth. 

Let us ponder these things, and be wise ; wait and 
work ; pray and watch, till the end be, that we may rest, 
and stand in our lot at the end of the days ! 



CHAPTER XL 

The field prepared. General Remarks; — First, Papal countries, or Europe; 
their condition now, and fifty years ago. France— the Revolution— Napoleon. 
154o, an epoch ; — present condition of Europe Character of her monarchs. Cath- 
olic countries ;— Spain and Rome — Austria— France, an open field. France and 
Rome. Geneva. Benevolent and reforming societies. Religion in high places. 
Mind awake. Liberty. Condition of Romanism and Protestantism. 

k Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields ; for they are white 
already to harvest. — John iv. 35. 

We have, in the two preceding chapters, spoken of 
the hand of God as visible in the facilities which the 
present state of the world, and condition of man, affords 
to the universal spread of the gospel. We now proceed 
to a survey of our next topic. 

2. The present aspect of the world as a field open for 
the admission of the gospel. 

More than a general survey of so vast and complica- 
ted a field, would transcend our prescribed limits. Be- 
fore attempting any geographical delineation of the great 
missionary field, I shall direct attention to some of its 
general features. A brief survey will carry conviction 
to the mind that the ever busy hand of Providence has 
brought the world into a position peculiarly favorable to 
receive the gospel. I have spoken of the rank assigned 
by Providence to the two great Protestant nations. By 
territorial importance, commercial relations, and intellec- 
tual and moral superiority, England and America hold in 
their hands the destinies of the world. Why did North 
America so soon pass into Protestant hands, if not to 
give the religion of the Reformation a wider field and a 
fertile soil, that it mi<rht bear fruit for the enriching of 
the nations ? Why dia not the magnificent empire of the 
Moguls in Hindoostan either remain in the hands of the 
Portuguese, — and there seemed no earthly reason why it 
should not, — or pass into the possession of Russia, France, 
Holland or Turkey ? France fixed an eager eye on the 



SUCCESS AND PROGRESS. 197 

East, and lost no advantage to gain it. Russia has long 
been watching for it, and Holland called much of it her 
own. Yet England has unfurled her banner over the 
strong-holds of more than one hundred millions of Hin- 
doos, and virtually rules over more than thrice that num- 
ber in Farther India and China. Why are these populous 
nations of idolatry laid at the feet of Protestantism, if 
not that they may learn the living oracles of God ? Why 
is Paganism grown old and ready to die, and Mohamme- 
danism only propped up by interested civil power, and 
Romanism struggling to prolong a morbid existence, by a 
spasmodic activity which betokens corruption at the 
heart, and mortification in the extremities, if it be not 
that those things which are " ready to die/' have nearly 
come to an end ? What means the recent unparalleled 
progress in civilization, government,, freedom and knowl- 
edge, if it be not that the great controlling mind has pur- 
poses of vast moment to answer by such resources ? 

The press has been made the handmaid of Christianity, 
and the improvements in the arts, advancements in sci- 
ence, inventions and discoveries, have been made to sub- 
serve the cause of evangelical religion, and to propagate 
it over the earth. Such, too, is the political condition of 
the world as to invite our benevolent efforts to send the 
gospelto almost every nation. 

Could we for a moment entertain the idea of abandon- 
ing the work of missions, we should meet a severe rebuke 
from the finger of Providence, pointing to the success 
which has already crowned the but partial efforts of the 
church to convert the world, and the munitions of war 
already accumulated to complete the conquest. More 
than fifteen hundred efficient missionaries are this mo- 
ment in the field, some scorching beneath a meridian sun, 
some shivering amid the eternal snows of Lapland, — oc- 
cupying more than twelve hundred principal stations, and 
many subordinate ones, traversing vast regions of heathen 
territory, and preaching the unsearchable riches of the 
cross to some millions of the votaries of idolatry. This 
sacramental host is assisted by above five thousand na- 
tive and other helpers, and by not less than fifty print- 
ing establishments. They number in their ranks some 

17 # 



19S HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

two hundred thousand communicants in their different 
churches, and a yet larger number of children and 
adults in their schools.* 

But such statistics do not, perhaps, introduce us to the 
most accurate estimate of missionary labor and success. 
Take another series : — the Bible has been translated into 
more than one hundred and sixty languages, or principal 
dialects, spoken by seven hundred and fifty millions of 
the earth's population. Thousands of associations are 
in operation for publishing and circulating the sacred 
volume, and more than thirty million copies or portions 
of the Bible have been put in circulation since 1804. 
Half this number has been issued during this period by 
the British and Foreign Bible Society alone. 

Corresponding to this, too, is the progress of education 
among the unevangelized, the demand for schools, and 
Christian books, and advancement in the useful arts and 
in general knowledge. It is a fact of much interest, that, 
in the order of things, induced by missionary labors and 
influences, the Bible is the first and the principal book 
brought to the notice of the heathen. This is usually 
the first book translated into the vernacular tongue, and 
sometimes the only one to which their more aspiring 
youth may resort for assistance in their great eagerness 
to learn the English language. 

We cannot pursue this general survey without every- 
where discerning the busy Hand of preparation compass- 
ing ends of vast magnitude to the kingdom of Christ. 
The way of the Lord is preparing before him ; and not 
to discern the special interposition of Providence here, 
would be to close our eyes against the noonday sun. 
But a general view does not suffice here. Allow the eye 
once more to pass over the world. Geographical or po- 
litical boundaries will not subserve our purpose at pres- 
ent, so well as religious or moral divisions. Spread be- 
fore you, then, a map adjusted to the fourfold religious 
distinctions of Papal, Pagan, Jewish and Mohammedan, 
including the lapsed Christian churches of the East. 
We begin with Papal countries. In our survey of 

* See Dr. John Harris' Great Commission. 



PRESENT STATE OF EUROPE. 199 

the field over which Romanism breathes its withering 
breath, our remarks may be chiefly confined to the south 
of Europe. The religion of Rome is by no means con- 
fined within these limits ; yet her territories beyond, are 
but colonies from the parent stock. As the trunk is full 
of vigor and life, or as it withers and dies, so are the 
branches. Popery, in South America, in the East or 
West Indies, in Central America or Canada, cannot re- 
tain the strength of its manhood, if there be weakness or 
decay at the seat of life in Italy, or in France, Spain and 
Austria. 

What is the present state of Europe, compared with 
its condition fifty years ago, — and what the present con- 
dition of Romanism r and of Protestantism ? An answer 
to these queries will present Europe before us as a field 
open to evangelical labor, and, by consequence, indicate 
the measure of our duty. 

We are struck with admiration at the change which 
Europe has passed through during the last half century. 
It is but fifty-three years, (Oct. 10th, 1793,) since France 
"voted Christianity out of existence/' and with impious 
hands assailed the Temple of Truth, an I decreed that 
one stone should not be left on another, till the whole 
should be thrown down ; and in the temple which she 
built, she set up her image, the goddess of reason. And 
the reign of terror which followed, was terrific and bloody 
beyond any thing recorded in the annals of the apostasy. 
Revelation was trodden under foot, and evangelical piety 
scouted from the nation. Her voice was nowhere heard, 
except as echoed in blood and groans, or from the remote 
valley or solitary glen. 

Indeed, the religious history of France is exceedingly 
bold and instructive, greatly abounding in materials suited 
to my present purpose. France early received the doc- 
trines of the Cross — early corrupted them — and, though 
bigoted and superstitious, she readily admitted the Re- 
formed religion of Germany. Two thousand Protestant 
churches were established in France during the first 
twenty years of the Reformation. Protestantism took 
deep root and flourished ; and was at length protected by 
the famous Edict of Nantes, which was extended over 



200 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

them by Henry IV., himself a Catholic. Under this be- 
nign shield. Protestantism prospered for nearly a century. 
At length times grew dark, clouds gathered. The perfidy 
and artifice of Richelieu first sought to beguile the Pro- 
testants into the Romish communion. Priestly rage and 
cruel bigotry then assailed them. The Jesuits had de- 
creed their ruin ; and the weak and credulous Louis XIV., 
trampling on the most solemn obligations, and regardless 
of all laws, human or divine, revoked the Edict of Nantes, 
and let loose the blood-hounds of persecution on the de- 
fenceless Protestants. Thousands, hundreds of thousands, 
now became voluntary exiles from their country. A 
dark century followed. Its history is written in blood — 
disgraced with outrage, superstition and crime. The 
church was corrupt, the nation a hot-bed of iniquity. 
An explosion was inevitable. It came in 1789. It was 
as if a volcano had discharged its fiery contents on all 
Europe. It was " fire and blood, and vapor of smoke." Yet 
this was the signal of better things— the lowering cloud, 
the fearful thunder, and the vivid lightning which often 
precede a smiling sunshine. It was the explosion of 
French infidelity, licentiousness and despotism. For a 
time the sun was darkened, and the moon was turned to 
blood ; the sea and the waves roaring, and men's hearts 
failing them. But the atmosphere was purified. The 
terrific reign of Napoleon did much to advance the cause 
of liberty. The return of the Bourbons could not sup- 
press the spirit of reform and of freedom, which had now 
taken deep root in France. The revolution of 1830 was 
a report of progress. And the yet more decisive revolu- 
tion of 1848 brings us a further report of the doings of 
that ever watchful Providence, in whose hands are held 
the destinies of France. 

In Spain and Portugal the flickering light of Protest- 
antism was almost immediately quenched in the blood of 
the Inquisition. The voice of piety was stifled. No 
one dared read the word of God, much less to give the 
sacred volume to his neighbor, or to favor the cause of 
education. Italy, under the very thunders of the Vati- 
can, was completely barricaded from the Reformed reli- 
gion. Belgium, the South of Germany, Austria, and 



THE CONDITION OF EUROPE. ^ 201 

every foot of Papal territory in Europe, were almost en- 
tirely inaccessible to the introduction of Protestantism in 
any form. An iron-handed religious despotism would 
tolerate nothing but the religion of Rome. Neither the 
press might propagate, nor education foster, nor the pul- 
pit enforce the doctrines of the Reformation. 

Such was the condition of the Catholic states of 
Europe. Nor was there much more than a nominal 
Protestantism in the Northern states of Europe. The 
heart of the Germans had stagnated in rationalism, while 
the Hollander, the Dane, and the Swede, lay dormant in 
a frigid orthodoxy. Protestantism was hushed in the 
slumbers of spiritual death, Rome imposed her yoke, and 
immortal mind, long debased and humbled, scarcely felt 
the galling bondage. 

But this general stagnation was soon to be broken up. 
The "reign of terror" came, and in its bloody footsteps 
followed the terrific reign of Napoleon. Heretofore the 
atmosphere had been murky and mortiferous. The earth 
yet exhaled the bloody vapor of the revolution, and a 
lurid sky still bespoke the angry frown of indignant 
Heaven. The heavens are again overcast — the thunders 
roar; the lightnings blaze — Europe is convulsed — the 
earth is terribly shaken. The hero of Corsica comes — a 
burning comet rolling over all Europe. Every green 
tree is burnt up — thrones are crushed — kingdoms crum- 
ble — the foundations of the great deep are broken up. 
As the wars of the crusades, by the eruptions they pro- 
duced in the civil, social and religious state of Europe, 
were active causes introducing the notable revolution of 
the sixteenth century, so we may regard the terrific 
career of Napoleon Bonaparte as the fearful ushering in 
of a new and glorious dispensation in the Christian 
church. Out of the dark and tempestuous sea which 
then brooded over Europe, the Sun of Righteousness rose 
with renewed radiance. From that period the scarlet 
beast has staggered from weakness, and Protestantism 
has been gathering up her strength, and buckling on her 
armor. The date of 1815 is destined to be as illustrious 
in the annals of the Christian church as it is in the great 
world of politics. 



202 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

The wars of Napoleon were singularly the scourge of 
European infidelity, and the means of its correction. 
Europe felt that a mighty hand was stretched over her, 
and she trembled. The French revolution had spread 
the pall of death over Christianity. Revelation was de- 
throned, and to rationalism and infidelity were given the 
empire of Europe. This was the portentous calm that 
followed the strange commotions of 1793. Nor was it 
strange that another concussion should undo what the 
revolution had done. The devastating wars of Napoleon 
produced a shock which taught all Europe that Jehovah 
is the God of nations ; that an appeal in this hour of 
wide-spread catastrophe must be made only to Him, and 
that the time had come when Eternal Justice would vin- 
dicate the rights of nations. Says the Emperor Alexan- 
der, of Russia, who from about this time to his death is 
believed to have been a humble follower of the Lamb, 
" the burning of Moscow lighted the flame of religion in 
my soul ;" and he did but speak the thoughts of many 
hearts, as the car of the conqueror rolled on. " I was a 
youth/' says Professor Tholock, from whose authority I 
derive these facts, " when Germany was called to contend 
for her freedom. But I well remember that this memora- 
ble event awakened religious desires in hearts that had 
remained, till then, strangers to every Christian sentiment. 
Every one was penetrated with this thought, that if aid 
came not from on high, none was to be expected on earth ; 
and that the moment was come for the display of the 
Eternal Justice which governs the world." The inhab- 
itants of Prussia, in particular, felt this ; and from this 
time the heart of their king was open to the truths of 
Christianity. Germany began to feel that she could not, 
in so grave a period, forsake the God of her fathers. 

From this time evangelical religion was revived — the 
writings of the Reformers, which had been neglected and 
despised, were now read and revered — the anniversary 
of the Reformation was celebrated in 1817 — sermons, 
books, lectures, science, literature, theology, from this 
time, bore the impress of the reformed religion. Schools, 
religious and philosophical associations, and the press, 
bear a living and delightful testimony in favor of a pure 



THE CONDITION OF EUROPE. ■ 203 

Christianity. There undoubtedly arose out of the trou- 
bled waters of Napoleon's reign a spirit of advancement 
in religion, in general intelligence, in free institutions, in 
the science of government, and in the better understand- 
ing of human rights. That such results should come out 
of scenes so terrific and unpropitious, is but another 
illustration of the workings of that inscrutable Providence 
which bringeth order out of confusion, and good out of 
evil.* 

Europe and the world once more hushed in peace, the 
angel having the everlasting gospel to preach recom- 
menced his flight. 

From the battle of Waterloo, June 18th, 1815, com- 
menced a new era in education throughout Europe. 
Read the records of Prussia, Sweden, Denmark, Norway. 
The loud demand for education by the common people 
of Europe dates no farther back than 1815; and the late 
improvements in modes of education are equally modern. 
It is since that date that Prussia has, in some respects, 
outstripped even republican America in the education of 
her people — that Sweden has surpassed any other country 
in great scholars and literary enterprise — that national 
school systems and parish district schools have been in- 
troduced into monarchical Europe. f 

It was from that eventful period, too, that the American 
church had given her eagle's wings that she might fly to 
the ends of the earth, bearing to the famishing nations 
the bread of life. And it was upon the clearing away of 
the dark chaos which disappeared with the sulphurous 
smoke of Waterloo, that there arose a beautiful constel- 
lation of benevolent societies, whose light has already 
shone to the ends of the earth. And, finally, from that 
same period, civil and religious liberty has been advancing 
by sure and rapid strides, and the physical and political, 
the moral and religious character of Europe has under- 
gone astonishing ameliorations. The press has, in a great 
degree, been manumitted from a thraldom of many cen- 
turies ; and Europe, in spite of Rome and the Vatican, is 

* Mr. Headly, in his book, entitled " Napoleon and his Marshals," confirms the 
views advanced above, which were penned more than five years since. 
tDr. Robert Baird's Northern Europe. 



204 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

in the rapid progress of receiving a Christian literature. 
Europe, as a field for the circulation of the Bible and 
religious books, was never open as it now is ; and never 
the Bible so extensively read. For several years past, 
two hundred thousand copies of the Bible have been put 
in circulation in France alone : or more than three mill- 
ions since the battle of Waterloo — and as many copies 
of the New Testament. In Belgium, till recently one 
of the most bigoted and superstitious of the Papal states, 
there have been circulated, within the same period, three 
hundred thousand copies of the sacred volume ; and there 
has been a large distribution, through every nation in 
Europe, not excepting Spain, Portugal and Italy.* 

The late religious excitement in France, the movement 
under Ronge and Czerski in Germany, the late evangelical 
movement in Scotland, and the tendencies to the same 
result in England — the late manly and self-denying re- 
sistance to oppression of the evangelical pastors of Swit- 
zerland, the numerous conversions of Jews, and the in- 
creased interest felt in their behalf, indicate the sure 
designs of Providence in the spread of the gospel over 
all those Papal countries. They are the pillar of cloud 
and of fire going before the people of God, to lead them 
to victory and to glory. 

In France, says one who has resided several years in 
the country, " the most encouraging accounts of the pro- 
gress of truth are coming to us from all parts of the 
kingdom. The masses of the people are demanding the 
Bible ; and in some places, the dignitaries of the church 
are coming down from their lofty positions, and, in self- 
defence, are giving the famishing multitudes the Bread of 
Life, w^hich they have so long withheld. Thousands of 
Romanists desire the word of God. The feeling con- 
tinues and extends. The people are tired of the yoke of 
the priests. If we had ten times as much money, and 
ten times as many men, they could all be immediately 



* In Belgium the demand for the Bible is unprecedented : and the decree of the 
Bishop of Rome against the reading of it, only excites the curiosity of the people, and 
makes them more anxious to procure a book the Pope is afraid of. In Holland great 
numbers of the sacred Scriptures have been distributed, as also among the Carpathian 
mountains. In Ireland, too, more than forty Romish priests, and forty thousand lay- 
men have, within a few years, come over to the Protestant church. 



PRESENT STATE OF EUROPE. 205 

employed. It would be easy to open a new church every 
month, every week, and to cover with churches all 
France." In the department of " Saintonge, forty com- 
munes are open to the Evangelical Society — in Yonne, 
twenty important posts are accessible." " What is now 
passing under our eyes is somewhat like what occurred in 
France in the age of the Reformation," when two thou- 
sand Reformed churches were established in France 
during the first twenty years. 

Nor is this movement by any means confined to France. 
In Germany, while there is scarcely less of development, 
there is perhaps more of an undercurrent in favor of 
evangelical principles. The phlegmatic mind of Ger- 
many was, perhaps, never more awake. The intellec- 
tual movement is a strong one, pervading Romanists and 
Protestants, Rationalists and the evangelical ; and we 
may expect the utterance shall not be less distinct than 
the cogitation, when the day for action shall fully come. 
Such a day has begun to dawn. The Reformation of 
Ronge and Czerski, though not so evangelical and ortho- 
dox as we could wish, is a great movement, when re- 
garded in its anti-Romish character. It has fearlessly 
raised the standard of revolt from Rome ; and we may 
take the readiness with which tens of thousands rally 
about this standard, as a signal of the ripeness of Germany 
to disenthral herself from spiritual bondage. The Ronge 
movement was commenced in 1844, by eighteen persons, 
who were in the habit of meeting in a small town in 
Germany, to study the Scriptures. Two years from that 
time, it was stated by Doctor Guistiniana, that there " is 
not a kingdom, duchy or town in Germany, where there 
is not a Reformed church." The whole number of dis- 
senting Catholics who have -attached themselves to the 
new communion under Ronge and Czerski, is estimated 
to be one hundred and fifty thousand, who assemble in 
more than three hundred places for public worship. 

This anti-Romish movement is finding its way among 
the immigrant German population of America, where it 
is making progress under auspices more favorable to truth 
than in Germany. The late meeting of Germans in the 
Tabernacle, New- York, 1846, "to declare publicly their 

18 



206 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

secession from Rome, and to form themselves into a 
Christian church, recognizing the Bible as their only 
rule oi' faith and practice/' was a delightful token for 
good to our country, to the German people among us, 
and to the triumph of the truth. *' 

Nor may we overlook in this survey, the condition of 
Romanism in South America, in Central America and in 
Mexico. " Things throughout South America are now 
exceedingly favorable to the introduction of the gospel. 
The severance of South America from the European 
world, has tended greatly to weaken the hold of Popery : 
and every day the field is becoming wider and riper for 
the harvest." 

And Central America and Mexico are essentially in the 
same condition. Romanism, like thousands of its tem- 
ples, is there in a state of dilapidation. Every revolu- 
tion is at the expense of the despotism of the priesthood. 
Mexico, just at this time, is, providentially, brought into 
a condition of great interest in a religious point of view. 
Precisely what God will bring out of the unrighteous war 
we are waging against Mexico, we cannot predict. We 
cannot but indulge the sanguine expectation that this 
war, however unjust and unnecessary on the part of the 
United States, is, in the permissive purposes of God, a 
providential occurrence, that shall overthrow another of 
the strong-holds of popery, and open a vast field for the 
diffusion of the principles of the Reformation and the 
Bible. A reverend gentleman writing from Mexico, 
says a political party exists there whose avowed object 
is to limit the power of the priests ; to confine them to 
their proper duties ; to break down the overgrown re- 
ligious establishments of the country, and to devote their 
great wealth to the cause of popular education. They 
are not protestants, yet they desire to have the Scrip- 
tures circulated as a means of opening the eyes of the 
people to the abuses of the church. 

* Another meeting, a sign of the times, too, has taken place in the Broadway Taber- 
nacle. It was a meeting of Protestants to congratulate Pope Pius IX., on account of 
his liberal principles! And another meeting still, the New England Society, the genu- 
ine descendants of the Puritans, to be sure — all good Protestants — not a Jesuit among 
them — met, forsooth, to commemorate the spiritual emancipation of their fathers — with 
Bishop Hughes for their invited guest, and a toast and congratulations for Bishop 
Hughes' master at Rome ! ! 



THE MONARCHS OF EUROPE. 207 

Another general feature of the present condition of 
Europe, betokening the hand of God at work for her ame- 
lioration, is the character of her present monarchs. 

How different the noble-minded and republican king, 
Bernadotte, who has just vacated the throne of Sweden, 
from the super-aristocratic Gustavus, III., and his weak, 
unstable son, who jointly occupied the throne from 1792 
to 1809. And the present incumbent of the Swedish 
throne is spoken of by Dr. Baird, as one of the most in- 
teresting men in Europe. The son of Bernadotte,* is a 
man near 45 years, he was Chancellor of the University 
of Upsula ; a man of extensive knowledge and fine lite- 
rary attainments, and deeply interested in modern im- 
provements and benevolent enterprises. The Queen, 
too, is spoken of as a most lovely character, the mother 
of five interesting children, a daughter and four sons, who 
are said to be admirably brought up. 

Or compare the present intelligent King of Denmark 
with the imbecile Christian VII. ; or the pious, noble- 
hearted King of Prussia, and his saintly Queen, with any 
of the line of excellent Princes who preceded him, and 
you cannot overlook the interesting fact that Providence 
has so disposed of the political power of Northern Eu- 
rope, as beautifully to throw open those nations to receive 
a pure gospel. 

Or if we extend the comparison to the present com- 
paratively liberal and enlightened policy of the cabinets 
of the Catholic powers of Europe, we shall discern the 
hand of God quite as industriously at work to prepare the 
soil of Europe for the good seed of the word. 

Spanish despotism has appeared so modified in some 
recent movements of the Cortes, as to foster the hope of 
some important amelioration. Convents are abolished 
and their vast revenues taken away ; all recourse to mass 
dispensations forbidden, and all confirmations of eccle- 
siastical appointments rejected. Henceforth no money 
shall be sent to Rome, nor any nuncio from thence be 

* Bernadotte was a Frenchman ; a Marshal in the army of NapoJeon ; elected by the 
Diet Crown Prince of Sweden, 1810; made king, 1818; a man of noble mein, of a 
liberal mind, sound judgment, engaging manners, and an amiable heart ; a patriarchal 
king, and an honest man. 



208 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

allowed to reside in Spain. This virtual separation from 
Italy cannot but work a mighty change in Europe, and 
set in motion an influence which shall not stop till it 
reach the Andes of South America. Austria, too, has 
become more libera] ; and Italy has been obliged to relax 
her iron sinews in her wholesale dealing of despotism 
among the nations. Indeed, there has been a very 
marked progress of civil liberty in Europe during the last 
half century. 

But would we get a true picture of Europe as a field 
inviting the evangelical laborer, we must direct the eye 
to France. What Great Britain and the United States 
are to the world, France is to the Papal world. Indeed, 
France, once evangelized, would take her place among 
the "three mighties." Should she not be "the most 
honorable of three," yet she should have a " name among 
three." The Anglo-Saxon race excepted, no nation has 
so great an influence over mankind as France. Her 
language is the court language of nearly all Europe. 
The nations of the continent are wont to receive their 
philosophy at her hands, and to sit at the feet of her 
Gamaliels. And not only Europe, but the ends of the 
earth would feel the evangelization, not to say of France, 
but merely of the French capital. 

We may, therefore, judge of the prospects of Europe 
by the encouragement and reception which evangelical 
labors meet in France. 

I have alluded to the fact that 200,000 copies of the 
Bible have recently been put in circulation in France, in 
a single year, 33,000 sold by colporteurs in three months ; 
and more than 3,000,000 since 1815. When the London 
Missionary Society sent a deputation to France, 1802, to 
inquire into the state of religion, and publish the New 
Testament in the French language, it required a search 
of four days among the booksellers of Paris, before a copy 
of the Bible could be found. And it is but thirty years 
since you would have scarcely found an orthodox, evangel- 
ical minister in France, or a pious Frenchman, who was 
willing to be employed as a colporteur or an evangelist, 
Great as has been the change in Protestantism since the 
purchase of peace by the blood of Waterloo, it has been 



EVANGELIZATION OF FRANCE. 209 

vastly greater since the revolution of 1830. A pure gos- 
pel is preached in hundreds of places, more than it was 
at that period. Now hundreds of Frenchmen glory in 
the cross, in being willing to submit to toil, trial and 
obloquy for the good work's sake. Bibles are now pub- 
lished and offered for sale in the city and the country, in 
the chief marts, and at the door of the private cabin, 
while a quarter of a century ago, it was almost impossi- 
ble to find a single copy in any store, either in Paris or 
any city in the kingdom. Roused from the fatal lethargy 
of Infidelity, France is at length convinced that she must 
have religion, and Christianity, in some form, is receiving 
an unwonted patronage from all classes of her people. # 

As a further evidence of this, we may refer to the 
spirit of benevolent enterprise, which has, within a few 
years past, like the sun after a dark and tempestuous 
night, risen on France, scattering the darkness and mists 
of the past, and sending its light and its vivifying influ- 
ences over the whole land. Bible, Tract and Missionary 
Societies, are educing, gathering and combining the be- 
nevolent energies of a people who are peculiarly fitted 
for benevolent action. Paris, already modestly treading 
in the footsteps of London and New York, annually 
gathers together the different bands of the sacramental 
host, that they may collectively rejoice in their triumphs, 
and recruit their strength for new encounters. As an 
example of their pious zeal and benevolent activity, the 
Evangelical Society of France employs twenty-five or- 
dained ministers, seven evangelists, twenty-nine school 
teachers, eight colporteurs, and supports six students, 
preparing for evangelists. The Paris Society employs 
one hundred and forty- six laborers, of whom thirty-four 
are preachers. And, if we admit into the account the 
amount of labor performed in France, whether by the 
French clergy or by different Evangelical Societies, as 

• "I am surprised," says Rev. Dr. Bushnell, "by what I see of the condition and 
character of the French people. They are fast becoming a new people. The revolu- 
tion was a terrible, yet I am convinced, a great good to France. It has broken up the 
old system, and blown it as chaff to the winds. Priestcraft has come to a full end ; the 
lordly manners of the hierarchy are utterly swept away. Industry is called into ac- 
tion ; wealth is increasing; education is becoming a topic of greater interest. No 
country in Europe is advancing so rapidly as France." 

18* 



210 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

the Geneva and the American Evangelical Societies, and 
Bible. Tract and Book Societies, we meet no less than 
four hundred preachers, of whom one hundred are 
evangelists. There are, also, three hundred colporteurs, 
and a large number of pious school-masters ; in all, a 
goodly host, who, in honesty and godly sincerity, and 
in the midst of great sacrifice and reproach, are raising 
their voice in testimony of the truth.* And Romish 
virulence dare not harm a hair of their heads. Is this 
the France of 1793? 

Such men as Dr. Mai an and Professor Monod, Roussel 
and Audabez, bright and shining lights, and worthy to 
tread in the footsteps of the immortal Calvin, are travers- 
ing the nation from East to West, and North to South, 
preaching publicly and privately, by day and by night, to 
multitudes of the dispersed children of God, who are 
hungering for the bread of life ; and to greater multitudes 
of Romanists, who are allowed to occupy the places of 
preaching to the voluntary exclusion of the Protestants. 
These deluded children of Rome hear the strange things 
that are thus brought to their ears, and admire the sim- 
plicity of an unadulterated gospel, and many embrace it. 
It is a fact worthy of the most joyful reiteration, that most 
of the above list of evangelical laborers are converts from 
Romanism, now engaged to demolish, by the mighty arm 
of truth, what once, by ignorance and superstition, they 
contributed to build up. An hundred Romish priests 
have been converted in France. 

"Never/' says Rev. N. Roussel, "have the Roman 
Catholic people been more disgusted with the superstition 
of their church and the avarice of their priests, than at 
present ; and never has there been a more favorable op- 
portunity of declaring the gospel to them/ 5 We need 
here to descend to particulars : the following we may 
take as illustrations of the hand of God in France at the 
present moment : 

The departments in which the work of God has been 

* A single fact connected with the agents of this distribution is worthy a passing no- 
tice : of the two hundred French distributors or colporteurs, employed by the Britisn 
and Foreign Bible Society, during the same period, one hundred and seventy-five were 
formerly Romanists, and the superintendent was not only a Romanist, but a pupil of 
the Jesuits. 



THE PHYSICIAN OF SENS. 211 

the most marked, are Yonne, Haute Vienne, Saintonge, 
Charente. 

In the department of Yonne, is the ancient and cele- 
brated city of Sens, whose Archbishop takes the title of 
Primate of the Gauls, and where priestly influence has 
been from time immemorial overpowering. Could pro- 
testantism find room in Sens ? Heaven had decided it ; 
but how ? A physician of Sens is brought to Lyons,* 
where, with his wife, he spends some time. His wife 
becomes acquainted with a pious, respectable widow, 
whose exemplary deportment and well-ordered family 
quite excite her curiosity to know by what means this 
family differ so widely from Romish families of her ac- 
quaintance. It was the fruit, she found, of a pure and 
holy religion. She visited the widow ; admired her de- 
portment and conversation, and received from her hands 
some religious books. The physician and his wife return 
to Sens, but with minds troubled and uneasy. They 
sought rest in such instructions as Sens afforded, but 
found none. They then said, "let us read the tracts the 
good widow of Lyons gave us/' They read them ; ac- 
quire new views of Christianity ; become seriously con- 
cerned for their souls, and begin to pray. And so it was 
with other persons, all Romanists, who were present and 
read the tracts with them. 

While this was doing in Sens, the hand of Providence 
is working a counterpart in Paris. A poor laboring man, 
a weaver, feels his heart stirred in him to serve his Di- 
vine Master, and begs at the door of the British and 
Foreign Bible Society to be sent as a colporteur to Sens. 
He goes ; falls upon the house of the physician. He and 
his wife receive him gladly. They are instructed ; con- 
verted ; their house becomes a rallying point of protest- 
antism and piety. A congregation is formed ; a pastor 
is sent for ; Mr. Audebez goes and soon finds hundreds, 
yea thousands, flock to hear him. The whole city is 
moved. Men of every age and rank show an eager de- 

* Did space permit, we might go a step further back and trace the providential his- 
tory of the evangelical church in Lyons, and we should find matter for profound ad- 
miration. She is peculiarly a child of Providence. A clerical visitor, after spending 
several weeks at Lyons, declares that no church answered so nearly to his ideal of 
what a Christian church should be, as the church in Lyons. 



212 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

sire to know the gospel. Old soldiers, veterans in prof- 
ligacy, yield to the sacred word, and weep like children. 

The work extends to the whole adjacent country ; Mr. 
A. cannot meet the growing demand for labor ; another 
pastor is called, and shortly the whole department seem 
about to renounce Rome. Mr. Audebez goes to Paris 
and asks for more laborers; says he can place forty in 
the department of Yonne, and doubts not that shortly he 
shall have place for an hundred.* 

A similar movement is going forward in Haute Vienne 
and Lower Charente. It is the opinion of an eye wit- 
ness that the "entire Roman Catholic population of 
Lower Charente would be brought over to the protestant 
faith, or at least to the protestant communion, if we only 
had laborers ready to send into the field, which is so un- 
expectedly open for us." 

In the department of Haute Vienne, the work has been, 
if possible, yet more extraordinary. After laboring six 
months at Villefavard, Mr. Roussel has the happiness of 
seeing the entire Romish population join the protestant 
faith, and attend their worship. At Baledent, one half 
follow Mr. Roussel ; at Limoges, Mr. R. established pro- 
testant worship, which was attended by hundreds of Ro- 
manists. At Rancon, whither he was called by a letter 
signed by eighty heads of families, eleven of whom were 
members of the Municipal Council, the Mayor of the 
city acquiescing, he preached to six hundred persons in a 
barn. Other communes were waiting to receive his visit 
and to hear from him the words of life. 

We may take the following as an illustration of the 
eagerness of large portions of the French people for 
evangelical preaching : 

Says Mr. Roussel, " I was in Rancon last week, it was 
a market day, and the peasants of the neighboring com- 
munes came from all parts. A man came to my room, 
who was sent by his village, to ask me what they must 
do to get a pastor. We were conversing on the subject, 

* At a later date, (May, 1847.) Mr. Audebez says before the General Assembly of the 
Free Church of Scotland : " If men and money could be secured, it would be easy to es- 
tablish five hundred places of public worship in France, now that the greater part of 
France is disposed to Protestantism." And the speech of the Rev. Mr. Cordes, of Ge- 
neva, was equally cheering, says the Report. 



FRANCE AND THE BIBLE. 213 

when four other persons entered my chamber, and asked 
me if I would not come soon and establish worship in 
their commune. I had not finished a reply when a third 
delegation came to ask what steps they must take to get 
a pastor. Before these had gone, there came still four 
peasants, from four different villages, to say that all the 
inhabitants wished to become Protestants. Lastly, a 
fifth delegation came to request the establishment of 
evangelical worship." "A stranger might suppose these 
persons had concerted together, all to come on the same 
day ; but for myself, knowing the state of the country, I 
was not at all surprised." 

Again, Mr. Roussel comes into the department of Cha- 
rente, distributes ten thousand tracts — the bishop issues 
a mandate forbidding — more are sold than before. The 
priests preach against reform — the sale increases. A 
colporteur is imprisoned ; he preaches to the prisoners, 
and when he comes out, sells more Bibles than ever. A 
barn is open to Mr. R., who there preaches to two thou- 
sand attentive hearers, one half of whom could only get 
so near as to try to hear. And " this," says he, " is but 
a specimen of the readiness of the people to hear a pure 
gospel." 

" Everywhere," says another, " Popery seems shaken. 
The priests can only hold back their flocks with an arm 
of iron, by intrigues of all kinds ; and even then the men 
frequently escape from them. To these the Romish re- 
ligion appears superannuated, they can see nothing but the 
frauds of the ambitious clergy, who grow rich on the la- 
bor of the poor people." " There are few villages in 
France in which the word of God has not been offered, 
and some copies been left. And though the priests may 
burn the book of life, and utter a thousand lies against it, 
the people begin to perceive that the Romish religion and 
the Bible cannot exist together." 

The missionary spirit of the evangelical church of 
France and her two theological schools are further tokens 
for good. The one augurs good for France, in supplying 
her waste places with those who shall water them from 
the wells of salvation ; and the other is a sure pledge of 
the spirit and power of religion in a church. As they 



211 11AXD OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

water, they shall also be watered again. As they mete, so 
it shall be measured to them. The divinity schools at 
Montauban and Geneva, under the auspices of their ex- 
cellent professors, are verdant spots — wells of salvation, 
whose waters shall fertilize nations not a few. 

Before quitting France I w r ould call attention to a sin- 
gle fact : It is the singular connection between the French 
nation and the Papacy. This is a matter of deep histor- 
ical interest. And if this providential relation is still to 
continue, we cannot contemplate the extraordinary reli- 
gious movement now going fonvard in France, without 
anticipating some movement as extraordinary in the 
church of Rome. France has not only been the right 
arm of the Papacy in the support she has lent Rome, but 
she has been the mighty angel with the chain in his hand, 
to chain the Scarlet Beast, when he has essayed to go be- 
yond his prescribed limits. When Rome was to be ex- 
alted, France has done it ; when to be humbled, France 
has been the instrument. France was the first to confer 
temporal and political power on the Bishop of Rome, and 
the first to lay hands on a Pope, making him prisoner, 
humble him, and kill him with mortification and rage. 
Yet no power has done so much since the days of Pepin, 
to uphold the Papacy. In 756, Pepin, King of the 
French, moved by the touching letter of St. Peter him- 
self, direct from heaven, (with the trifling exception of 
having passed through the hands of Pope Stephen III., 
and received his approval and emendation,) crossed the 
Alps, took up arms for the Pope, overcame the King of 
Lombardy, and left the Pope in possession of the exarch- 
ate of Revenna and its dependencies. Thus the uni- 
versal bishop became a temporal prince ; added " the 
sceptre to the keys," and France did it. Pepin conferred 
this splendid donation on the Pope in supreme and abso- 
lute dominion, as a recompense " for the remission of his 
sins and the salvation of his soul/' Charlemagne re- 
ceived from the hands of the Pope the crown of imperial 
Rome, and thus recognized and became pledged to sup- 
port the unwarrantable usurpation of Anti-christ. 

This famous letter — and we are happy to be able to 
quote from a veritable correspondence of St. Peter him- 



FRANCE AND THE PAPACY. 21 

self — was addressed to the most excellent Prince, Pepin, 
and to Charles and Charloman, his sons, and to all bish- 
ops, abbots, priests, and monks ; as, also, to dukes, counts 
and people. It begins thus : " The Apostle Peter, to- 
gether with the Virgin Mary, and the thrones, dominions, 
&c, gives notice, commands, &c. ;" the letter ending 
with the very apostolic injunction : " If you will not fight 
for me, I declare to you by the Holy Trinity and by my 
apostleship, that you shall have no share in heaven." 

Pope Boniface VIII. was most signally humbled by 
Philip the Fair, of France. Philip demanded a general 
council to depose the Pope ; and the Pope as readily thun- 
dered his bull of excommunication against Philip. The 
King, roused to madness, levied an army, seized his Ho- 
liness, and treated him with the greatest indignity. He 
soon after died of an illness engendered by his mortifica- 
tion and rage. Again we trace the hand of France 
raised against Rome in the Great Western Schism — the 
elevation of a French Pope — the removal of the Papal 
seat to Avignon, and the subsequent wars of rival popes. 
Here we may date the first great shaking of the mighty 
fabric of Rome. Here the Beast received his incura- 
ble wound. Again, France, under Napoleon, humbles 
the Pope, and breaks the strong arm of his temporal 
power. 

The political power and influence of France, her treas- 
ures, her diplomacy, her armies and navies, have been 
laid an offering on the altar of Rome. And France, too, 
has done more than all other papal countries to extend 
the Romish faith. She furnishes near one half of the 
missionaries of Rome, (total, three thousand in number,) 
and about one half of the receipts of all her missionary 
societies, (total amount, nine hundred thousand dol- 
lars.) The government is foremost, too, in opening the 
way, by its power and diplomacy, for Papal missionaries ; 
and freely lends its ships of war to transport Romish 
priests to distant continents and islands, and its cannon, 
to compel the people to receive them. 

What France will do next, doth not yet appear. The 
present auspicious movement in that nation certainly 
cherishes the hope that this right arm of the Papacy may 



216 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

ere long, prove a right arm to conduct Rome to Christ. 
This we may at least hope evangelical France will do — ■ 
though papal France may once more lend her power to 
uphold Rome. 

The recent revival of evangelical religion in Geneva, 
the city of Calvin, and where Beza made bare his giant 
arm in defence of the Reformation, may not be over- 
looked in our estimate of providential movements in Eu- 
rope. Geneva has been called the Jerusalem of the con 
tinent. Once purified and filled with the sweet waters of 
life, it would be a fountain, whose streams should flow to 
Europe and the world. Already France receives her 
healing waters, and her deserts rejoice. 

Late movements in behalf of reform indicate moral ad- 
vancement in Europe. The temperance reformation has 
crept into the palaces of kings, and numbers in its ranks 
nobles and princes, while associations for carrying out 
various plans of benevolent action are springing into ex- 
istence in almost every quarter of the continent. The 
travels, labor, and reception, of the Rev. Dr. Baird afford 
a forcible and edifying illustration of what Europe now 
is as a field prepared for the good seed of the word. 
Fifteen years ago, how would the monarchical people ana 
aristocratic princes of Europe have received a protestant, 
an American, a republican, a man whose principal and 
sole object was to search out the moral destitutions of 
the land, and to overflow its moral wastes with the pure 
waters of life ? How he has been everywhere hailed as 
the precursor of better days to the lapsed churches of 
Europe, we know. How he would have been received 
at any former period since the expulsion of Protestantism 
from France, Spain, Belgium, and Italy, is matter of no 
doubtful conjecture. 

Europe does not, perhaps, present a more pleasing fea- 
ture, or one of more delightful promise, than in the in- 
crease of evangelical religion in high places. I have al- 
ready alluded to instances of this in king's palaces, of 
crowned heads guided by pious hearts. What a charm- 
ing example of the power of religion is the Duchess of 
Orleans, whom the Protestants of France had fondly 
hoped to hail as their Queen — Count Gasparin, a young 



PROGRESS OF FREE PRINCIPLES. 217 

French nobleman of great promise and decided piety, a 
man of fine talents, and the most fearless champion for 
the truth the Protestants of France have had for half a 
century. To which may be added, the late Duchess de 
Brogli and her excellent son, the Baron de Stael, and not 
a few of kindred spirits, who now adorn the higher ranks 
of life in France and on the continent of Europe. 

Or, in another sphere, we meet such men as Dr Merle 
d' Aubigne, Prof. Monad, G. de Felice, Dr. Malan, and 
the indefatigable, spirit-stirring Roussel, and Mr. Cordes 
of Lyons. Indeed, the evangelical church in the ancient 
city of Lyons is a beacon of great promise. In the very 
heart of Catholic France is a church of near four hundred 
members, and the truths of the gospel preached to im- 
mense numbers every Lord's day. Or, I might speak of 
the late wonderful movement in favor of religious liberty 
in Germany, Switzerland, and Belgium. 

In reference to the latter we must note in passing, an- 
other interesting providential interposition in the destiny 
of nations. Rome and her priests espoused the cause of 
the Belgic revolution, hoping to be rid of the Protestant 
influence which a union with Holland had imposed upon 
them. Never did men more grossly mistake the inten- 
tions of Providence. The result was a constitution for 
Belgium, securing perfect religious liberty. No country 
in Europe enjoys so complete religious liberty. 

The finger of God is most distinctly seen at the present 
time in Europe in the progress of free principles. The 
science of government has undergone an almost entire 
revolution within the last half century. The idea of the 
absolute divine right of kings is exploded as one of the 
last relics of a feudal age, and the republican notion that 
a government is for the people, is not only being con- 
ceded, but is fast becoming universal. Europe is en- 
gaged in a war of opinion. On the one side, for consti- 
tutional government ; on the other, for arbitrary power 
and hereditary succession. Every revolution produces a 
result in favor of popular sovereignty, and detracts in the 
same proportion from the divine right of legitimacy. In 
France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, and Italy, civil liberty 

19 



218 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

is in the ascendant.* All continental Europe seem about 
to be shaken to its very centre. 

The revolutionary tendencies of Europe are especially 
interesting on account of the connection between free in- 
stitutions and Protestant Christianity. Both are the fruit 
of free inquiry. Church reform is very likely to follow 
political reform. As the government of reason and law 
takes the place of arbitrary power, obstacles are removed 
to the free access of the gospel. While, on the other 
hand, every Bible, or sound religious book that is distrib- 
uted in Europe ; every protestant school that is estab- 
lished ; every evangelical sermon that is preached ; every 
Bible doctrine or moral sentiment that is enforced, is a 
stone loosed from the foundation of the twofold dominion 
of Popery and civil despotism. 

Another feature not to be overlooked, is, the general 
waking up of the mind of Europe, at the present time, on 
the great subject of religion. The Romanists may call it 
a woful tendency to infidelity. It has in it, to say the 
least, a strong suspicion and disgust of Romanism. The 
public mind is unusually awake to the absurdity of papal 
rites and superstitions. The spirit of inquiry is abroad, 
and, dispossessed of its predilections for Popery, the mind 
of thousands is open to receive the truth in its unadorned 
simplicity. 

Little need now be said on our second inquiry. The 
present condition of Romanism and of Protestantism. The 
inference from the above is irresistible. In a worldly 
point of view, Rome possesses immense advantages for 
propagating her faith ; and she is making desperate ef- 
forts to regain her lost dominions. The finger of proph- 
ecy and the strong arm of Providence are marking her as 
the object of Heaven's maledictions. " The souls of the 
martyrs beneath the altar are uttering their^solemn peti- 
tions against her. Thousands are becoming weary of her 
vain superstitions and her ghostly tyranny. Her very op- 
position is becoming more feeble. Fire and faggots have 
failed. Her military and her diplomatic power is gone. 

• We wait, in hope and fear, to see what shall be the result of the extraordinary 
movement of the new pope, Pious IX., in favor of advancement and liberty in the Pa- 
pal states, and throughout the Papal world. The above was written in 1847. 



THE PREPARED STATE OF EUROPE. 219 

She no longer stands up in the presence of kings, thirst- 
ing for the blood of the saints. " # Her power is dimin- 
ishing with the advance of knowledge, piety, and civil 
liberty. Before the advancing light of the Bible, Rome 
is stripped of her meretricious charms. Where she once 
threatened, she now implores, or condescends to reason, 
" She, who once roared, and the nations trembled ; shb 
who frowned, and kings grew pale," is now as tame, and 
where public sentiment compels, as obsequious, as an en 
feebled, famishing old lioness. 

Protestantism, on the other hand, though for a long 
time enveloped in a dark cloud, is now as a bridegroom 
coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man 
to run a race. Worried out by the proud usurpations of 
Rome, and crushed beneath the heavy foot of popish op- 
pression, Protestantism has been chased off the soil on 
which, for some time after the Reformation, she seemed in- 
digenous. On the very ground where Luther taught, 
and Calvin and Melancthon defended the truth of revela- 
tion, Protestantism had almost ceased to be. But a rem- 
nant, according to the election of grace, remained. All 
had not bowed the knee to Baal — all had not received 
the mark of the beast. The day of their redemption 
seems to draw near. Again do they rise in all the vigor 
of youth, and put on the helmet of salvation. In their re- 
cent efforts to resuscitate the languishing churches on the 
continent, and to strengthen the things that remain, they 
have found richly verified the promise, " They that wait 
upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall 
mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be 
weary, they shall walk and not faint." 

The present condition of Protestantism in Europe, 
speaks volumes in favor of her speedy evangelization. 
Or if viewed as a providential movement, it indicates the 
prepared state of Europe to receive a pure gospel. 

If the picture before us is a fair one — if Europe, in her 
general features, and in respect to the present condition 
of Popery and Protestantism be such as has been de- 
scribed, the question of duty in respect to this portion of 

* Report of the Foreign Evangelical Society, 1840. 



220 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

the world, is irresistibly forced upon us. In the vision of 
our faith, and in the arms of our benevolence, we are to 
encompass the whole earth. Not a nook or corner may- 
be overlooked. No rank or condition of men, no climate 
or color, may form a barrier to the universal benevo- 
lence of the Christian. Yet the Christian philanthropist 
and philosopher must, above all other men, watch the 
finger of Providence. Where God is at work there he 
must work. Where he finds an open door, there he must 
enter, looking to God that he will make it a wide and 
effectual door. In carrying out his great plans in human 
redemption, it suits the purposes of God sometimes to 
advance his work simultaneously in nearly every portion 
of the great field, and sometimes to confine his agency to 
particular portions of it. We must watch the Divine 
mind and work where He works. 

At the present time the mighty hand of God is stretched 
out over nearly the whole of the vast field. At no former 
period has He given so distinct indications that he was 
about to give all the kingdoms of the earth to his Son. 
Yet the agency of his Providence is more distinctive in 
some portions of the world than in others. There is in 
the order of time and place a preference in the Divine 
mind. Some nations shall come in before others. We 
must study this preference. The finger of Providence 
will point it out, and then we must direct our efforts, our 
prayers and benefactions, to the point or points where the 
lines of Providence the most prominently converge. 

At present Europe is one of these special points of 
convergency. 

This will enable each one of us to determine our per- 
sonal duty towards that interesting portion of the world. 
Looking to the present condition of Europe — her open- 
ing and inviting field, her wants, and the indications of 
Divine Providence towards her, what, in benefactions, in 
prayer and personal effort, is the measure of our duty ? 
This determined, in the fear of God, and with the approval 
of an enlightened conscience, it only remains to be said, 
the " Foreign Evangelical Society" is a channel by 
which to convey our benefactions to the aid of a feeble, 



THE TERRITORIES OF PAGANISM. 221 

yet determined Protestantism, in her struggles to rear 
her head amidst the opposing principalities and powers 
of Papal Europe. 

" The liberal deviseth liberal things ; 
And by liberal things shall he stand." 



CHAPTER XII. 

Continued. Second, Pagan Countries. Paganism in its dotage. Fifty years ago 
scarcely a tribe of Pagans accessible. 1793, another epoch. Pagan nations, how ac- 
cessible. Facilities. War. The effective force in the field. Resources of Provi- 
dence in laborers, education, and the press. Tolleration. Success. Krishnugar. South 
India. 

u Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, for they are white 
already to harvest" John iv. 35. 

The subject of the last chapter was the great field, 
open and prepared to receive the good seed. Attention 
was then directed to the countries over which the Papacy- 
holds its iron sway. We were able to trace very dis- 
tinctly the hand of God in the present condition of those 
countries. Morally, politically, ecclesiastically, and in 
reference to the state of education, they are brought into 
an unprecedented state of readiness to receive the gos- 
pel. He that runneth, may there read the agency of the 
Omnipotent arm. 

I come now to invite you to a like survey of the 
territories of Paganism. 

Asia, with her teeming millions, at once starts up be- 
fore us as the principal theatre of Pagan abominations. 
Though Paganism is by no means confined to Asia, nor 
is Asia all Pagan, yet we look there for the capital, and 
the chief resources of Satan's empire. There are the 
great systems of Idolatry, which have so signally perverted 
human reason, extinguished human sympathies, and dried 
up the fountain of man's noblest affections. On many 

19* 



222 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

islands of the sea, and in large portions of Africa, and in 
parts of Northern Europe, there is idolatry, gross, abomina- 
ble, debasing, yet not so systematized ; not so interwoven 
with the science "and. literature of the people — with the 
very warp and woof of their existence. In Asia, the 
great battle is to be fought — the attack must be made at 
the capital, while the outposts must not be overlooked. 

Our present inquiry relates to the present condition of 
Pagan countries, and the preparedness of the countries 
over which this cloud of death has cast its shadow, for 
the promulgation of the gospel. 

Paganism is fast sinking beneath its western horizon. 
Its mighty temples are crumbling to the dust, with no 
hope that they shall ever again be rebuilt. Its altars are 
prostrate ; the glory of its priesthood has departed ; the 
potency of its spell is broken. It is but the stupendous 
ruin of a gorgeous edifice. The kings of the earth brought 
their glory and honor into it. All nations bowed before 
its gilded altar, and revered its thousand gods. But its 
foundations are undermined ; its sanctuary is assailed ; 
its outposts are taken. The stone cut out of the moun- 
tain without hands is fast jostling from their places their 
strong-holds, and nation after nation is yielding allegiance 
to King Emanuel. 

Precisely to what extent Idolatry is on the wane, and 
Christianity coming in to possess its vacated territory, we 
may not be able to determine. The following facts afford 
indubitable evidence that something is doing, which ought 
to expand the pious heart in grateful aspirations of praise 
to Him that worketh and no man hindereth, that openeth 
and no man shutteth. It is the hand of an ever-busy 
Almighty Providence. 

Paganism is on the decline. It is but a few years since 
its great systems were in the vigor of manhood. Fifty 
years ago Brahmunism and Bhudism, the two systems 
which prevailed over all Eastern Asia, holding in mental 
and spiritual bondage more than half the population of 
the globe, held their empire undisputed. With difficulty 
could an evangelical missionary find foothold anywhere 
in their wide domains. India, China, Birmah, Japan, 
Tartary, and the numberless and populous islands of the 



PAGANISM ON THE DECLINE. 223 

sea, were almost entirely inaccessible. When, in 1792, 
the English Baptists first turned their faces towards the 
heathen world, they knew not whither to direct their 
steps. Nor was it scarcely less an experiment with the 
London Missionary Society in 1796, or with the American 
Board in 1812. The world seemed closed against them. 
Heathen nations were barricaded against Christian influ- 
ences by a double wall. Both ecclesiastical and political 
power shut the door against them. Pride and prejudice, 
superstition and ignorance, and love of license from the 
restraints of religion, united with the ambition and avarice 
of the priest and the will of the despot, to keep out the 
light of the gospel. Consequently, darkness and despot- 
ism reigned, and unbroken generations went down to the 
shades of death unpitied and unwarned. 

But what a change has come over the world since the 
disgorging of the volcano in Europe in 1793. # That was 
not merely an explosion of French Infidelity. Mysterious 
though it may seem, yet the convulsion, called the French 
revolution, was shortly felt to the remotest boundaries of 
Paganism. From that mighty furnace, heaving and boil- 
ing with liquid fire, and consuming the hay, wood and 
stubble of its own impurity, there seemed to arise a re- 
generative spirit, which passed over the face of the whole 
earth. " The church, started out of the sleep of the last 
century by the shock that engulphed the monarchy of 
France, began to grope her way in the early twilight, and 
with weak faith and dim vision, to gird herself for her 

* This date has several times been referred to in the foregoing pages as an important 
epoch. If we subtract from it 1260, (a well known prophetic period,) we shall have 
533 ; which latter we find to be the date of the celebrated edict of Justinian, which 
established Popery by acknowledging the Pope the head of all the churches. May we 
not, therefore, take 1793 as the beginuing ot the " time of the end," or the fall of Anti- 
christ 1 Another epoch in the rise of Anti-christ was 583-4, when the Pope first set up 
the claim of Infallibility. Add 1260, and we have 1843-4 as another step in " the time 
of the end." Another yet more important epoch in the establishment of the great 
Papal apostasy, was 606, when the emperor Phocas acknowledged Boniface universal 
Bishop or Pope ; and we may look, therefore, that 1866 shall be a yet more illustrious 
period in its downfall But the end may not be yet. For the Pope was not established 
as a temporal prince till the year 756 ; to which add the years of his gigantic age, (1260,) 
and we have 2016 as the date of the final end of Popery. Whether the dying struggles 
of the Beast shall be protracted to that date, is yet to be seen. 

It should have been added that 1843-4 is the epoch from which dates the commence- 
ment of the modern Reformation in Germany. The bold and energetic manifesto of 
John Ronge, against Papal Infallibility, was dated October 1, 1844. We have yet to see 
whether a stone was not then set rolling which will crush more than the "toes" of this 
huge colossus. This German movement was announced by a leading journalist in 
this country as a " new page to the history of the Reformation in Germany." 



224 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

work, as the light of the world and the pillar and ground 
of the truth." 

From that hour idolatry the more rapidly declined, and 
an extensive system of means began to come into being 
to introduce Christianity. And, what is more, from that 
time, political power in the East, which had for some 
time previous been shifting, alternately, from the hands 
of Pagans and Papists, became confirmed in the hands of 
Protestants, and thus the way was opened, and protection 
secured for the introduction of the gospel into the popu- 
lous regions of the East. In India, and over the islands 
of the Eastern Archipelago, Protestant rule is paramount. 
In Birmah and China, the same power is, at least, indi- 
rectly dominant, so as virtually to secure access and 
protection to the missionary. Thus political obstacles to 
the evangelization of those nations, are in a great measure 
removed. 

And the hand of God is no less signally manifest in 
providing facilities for the same work. What, under the 
smiles of Heaven, has been done towards evangelizing 
those countries we may regard as the fulcrum of Provi- 
dence for the doing of vastly greater things. The Bible 
has been translated into all their principal languages, the 
press is established in almost every important position in 
the vast field, and already the light of truth radiates from 
these points over those dark fields of death. And educa- 
tion is doing its appropriate work, to prepare the minds 
of hundreds of thousands of Pagans to receive the heal- 
ing waters of life. Much, too, has been done to open the 
way by the extensive knowledge which has been acquired 
of the religions, the philosophy, and the language of 
Pagan nations, of their manners, customs, history and 
modes of reasoning. Dictionaries and grammars have 
been prepared for the study of languages, and a great 
variety of elementary and common reading books for the 
instruction of the people. Schools have been established, 
and churches gathered over large portions of the heathen 
world. Thus has Providence put into the hands of the la- 
borer who shall now enter the field, vast resources — an ex- 
tensive apparatus, which he may bring to his aid- — tools with 
which to work. Among the one hundred and thirty millions 



FACILITIES OF INTERCOURSE. 225 

of Hindoostan, there is scarcely a village which is not 
accessible to some, if not all the labors of the missionary. 
And few are the islands of the sea which will not welcome 
to their shores the messenger of peace. The vast empire 
of China, as an issue of the late war, is now added to the 
great field, and invites Christian enterprise. Africa — the 
Pagan portion we mean, has, by one movement of Provi- 
dence after another, become, to an extent hitherto un- 
known, accessible to the messages of mercy. An entrance 
has already been partially effected on the East and on 
the West, and an effectual door been opened on the South. 

Every missionary station, every press, or school, is an 
entering-wedge to indefinite enlargement. Every degree 
of success opens the door to what lies beyond, and in- 
creases the probability of greater success. 

We have already spoken of the present increased facil- 
ities of intercourse with Pagan nations— extensive com- 
mercial relations — the unprecedented prevalence of the 
English language, and the residence among heathen na- 
tions of so many Europeans, many of them highly intelli- 
gent, and some of them eminently pious. By these and 
other means, the unevangelized. are becoming acquainted 
with us, and we with them. We meet and compare 
notes — learn their character and condition, their wants 
and their woes ; and they are made acquainted with the 
advantages which a people derive from the improvements 
of civilization, from true science, and a divine religion. 
It is almost impossible for a nation at the present day to 
close their doors against the diffusive light of liberty, 
knowledge, civilization and Christianity. The remotest 
nations, by the rapidity of recent modes of communica- 
tion, have become neighbors. These are so many tele- 
graphic lines, to convey knowledge, and to diffuse light 
over the darkest nook and corner of the earth. They 
are providential arrangements, giving facilities to the 
church to send abroad the everlasting gospel. The field 
is prepared either for the good seed or for tares. We 
do well not to sleep. 

Nor should we pass unnoticed the instrumentality of 
war in preparing the world to receive the gospel. War 
is the sledge-hammer of Providence to break in pieces the 



226 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

great things which he will destroy. The wrath of man 
is made to praise Him. Wicked passions as roused in 
the war spirit, are made to subvert and remove some of 
the most formidable obstacles to the progress of the truth. 
When God would batter down the despotism of Europe, 
and smite the head of Rome, he let loose upon them the 
blood-hound of Corsica. Napoleon Bonaparte was his 
hammer. When he would demolish the time-honored 
and seemingly insurmountable obstacles which India pre- 
sented, to ever becoming a Christian nation, he commis- 
sioned a people of fierce countenance, and skillful in 
carnage, and mighty in power, first to punish them for 
their abominable idolatries, and next to remove difficul- 
ties to their evangelization — to give protection to the 
missionary, and to supply facilities for his work. When 
he would cut the bars of iron, and break the gates of 
brass which shut out China from the family of nations 
and the benign influences of Christianity, he again com- 
missioned the scourge of war and British cannon. Or 
when he would break up the feudal institutions of Mount 
Lebanon, and prepare the way for the peaceful reign of 
the gospel, he broke those flinty rocks by the hammer of 
war. " Light, knowledge, and the gospel itself, have fol- 
lowed on the bloody heels of war; and the flowers of 
learning and liberty have blossomed on the field of the 
crushed skeleton." We regard with interest the provi- 
dential issue of the late war with Mexico. 

But we shall take a different view of the field as prov- 
identially prepared. Fix the eye for a moment on the 
effective force in the field — the resources and facilities at 
command, and the success, which has already crowned 
the past, and the conviction will deepen that the hand of 
the Lord is in the work. In success Providence furnishes 
an illustration of the power and purity of Christianity ; 
and the effective force, in the form of laborers, with the 
facilities and resources put into their hands, is a provi- 
dential instrumentality made ready for the work. 

Since the commencement of the present century, God 
has brought into the field a corps of laborers, and accumu- 
lated an instrumentality far surpassing the conception of 
the common observer. At that period, they were but a 



EFFICIENT LABORERS EMPLOYED. 227 

very little band, — a few skirmishing parties. Now they 
have become a thousand, — an army organized, consolida- 
ted and furnished. We are safe in stating in round num- 
bers the whole number of efficient laborers employed in 
the different departments, as sappers and miners of the 
colossal fabric of idolatry, in round numbers as follows : 

1,500 Ordained ministers, European and American. 

2,000 Assistants, male and female, from the same 
countries. 

5,000 Native preachers and catechists. 
200,000 Native members of churches. 
250,000 Pupils in mission schools. 

In this short list we have an army of, we may say, 
9,000 salaried agents of benevolence, engaged in preach- 
ing the gospel, or in some of the varied offices of educa- 
tion or religious instruction ; and we might add a yet 
greater number of unpaid agents, as native helpers, as- 
sistants, and sabbath school teachers, who are furthering 
the same good cause. And to this we may add the in- 
fluence, by example and precept, of two hundred thou- 
sand church members. In a greater or less degree they 
are illustrating the power of the gospel, and putting shame 
on the vanities of idolatry. And to this, again, we must 
add a less numerous, but an effective corps of foreign 
helpers, in different military, civil, mercantile and diplo- 
matic services. The influence abroad of such men as 
Sir Stratford Canning and Sir Edmond Lyons in the Le- 
vant, and W. C. Money and Lord Wm. Bentinck in India, 
is immense beyond computation. Scores of such men 
have been, and are still using the influence of their sta- 
tions, and employing their great talents to further the 
cause of Christianity among the heathen. And the wealth, 
the talent, the Christian example and influence of hun- 
dreds, yea, of thousands, of devoted men and women, in 
the more ordinary ranks and employments, go to make up 
an immense machinery, furnished by Providence to carry 
forward his work. 

From more than fifty printing establishments, issue 
forth the Bible and religious books by thousands, daily 



228 HAM) OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

which are scattered, by an agency made ready, over those 
vast fields of spiritual death. 

The pecuniary resources of the foreign missionary en- 
terprise have likewise become considerable. About 
82,500,000 are annually raised and expended for this 
purpose — half a million by the churches in the United 
States, and two millions in Europe. The above aggre- 
gate includes only what is given directly for this purpose 
through Foreign Missionary Societies — exclusive, of 
course, of considerable sums contributed to the same 
cause, directly or indirectly, by foreign residents in heathen 
lands, and of still larger sums which go, indirectly at 
least, to favor the same enterprise, through other benevo- 
lent societies, as the Bible, Tract and Education, Sea- 
men's Friend, Jews, and Colonization. Three millions 
would probably fall quite within the limit of the revenues 
of this branch of benevolence. 

In like manner the same inventive Providence has 
brought into being, for the same purpose, an immense 
system of education abroad. Including the learners at 
colleges, seminaries, high schools, boarding schools, and 
common free schools, we count not less than two hundred 
and fifty thousand heathen youth and adults, who are re- 
ceiving a Christian education. Through these pupils the 
light of truth is sent — faintly it may be — into nearly as 
many heathen families, and each of these school-rooms is 
made a preaching place for the missionary, I speak now 
of the system of education only as a machinery made 
ready for future operations. An amount of mind is 
hereby rescued from the ruins of Idolatry, and capacitated 
to exert a tremendous influence in demolishing the whole 
fabric. Of this we have a happy illustration in the edu- 
cated Hindoo youth at Calcutta. Hundreds of native 
young men are there educated at the Hindoo college — 
first, they become sceptics — thoroughly despise and aban- 
don the fooleries of Hindooism, and as soon as they fairly 
come in contact with the truth, some of them are con- 
verted ; and there is, perhaps, not so influential a class of 
defenders of the truth, and propagators of the gospel, as 
these same educated, converted natives. Thus Provi- 



EDUCATION IN INDIA. 229 

dence has secured in mind a rich resource for the further 
progress of the work. 

The moral conquest of India will probably be achieved 
as her physical conquest by the British has been — by her 
own sons. Our dependence, under God, lies in a native 
agency. We may never hope to send men in sufficient 
numbers from abroad, to supply her hundred millions : 
nor is this desirable. An agency must be created on the 
field. We look for this in those nurseries of learning 
and religion, which Providence has raised up in those 
schools. 

But where, as in most cases, actual conversion is not 
the result, yet the number of readers is increased by tens 
of thousands, and thus the field on which the good seed 
may be sown is proportionably enlarged. 

But we must not overlook a new feature in education 
in India, for we shall here again trace the footsteps of 
Providence. A late act of the governor-general has 
given a new impulse to native education. Moral and in- 
tellectual qualifications only, are henceforth to be regarded 
in conferring governmental offices on natives. The can- 
didates are to be selected from the best qualified in the 
schools ; governmental schools, public or private schools, 
missionary or non-missionary, are all to be put on an 
equal footing. This forms a new epoch in Indian educa- 
tion. Heretofore everything has been ruled by caste, fa- 
voritism or patronage. In a country like ours, the people 
are, to a great extent, self-governed. In India, all offices, 
from the highest to the lowest, are held by official agents 
appointed directly by Government. Consequently, the 
patronage of Government is immense, monopolizing, all- 
absorbing. Hence we can scarcely conceive the impulse 
given to education the moment this vast source of patron- 
age is open, as a stimulant to the most deserving in the 
schools. " It makes the seminaries the nursery of the 
service, and the service the stimulant of the seminaries." 

It introduces the enlightened principles of European 
governments, diffuses European knowledge and science, 
(which have heretofore been confined very much to the 
capital,) into the districts, and places men of enlightened 
minds in situations of the highest trust and responsibility. 

20 



230 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

And Indian education presents another new feature 
worthy of a passing remark. But a few years since 
nearly the whole of the immense educational patronage 
oi the East India Company's government went to pro- 
mote oriental learning, and of consequence to nurture 
Hindoo superstition and Idolatry. Now, thanks to 
Heaven for the wise and philanthropic policy of Lord 
William Bentinck, truth, in the form of European litera- 
erature and science, has taken the place of falsehood and 
error, as formerly taught amidst the dreary lore of ori- 
entalism. And if nothing were at work to undermine 
and demolish the whole fabric of Brahminical supersti- 
tion, this would do it ; so interwoven is Hindoo learning 
and Hindoo religion, that one must fall with the other. 
Thus mightily is the hand of God at work to demolish 
falsehood, and build up truth in that vast country. 

Akin to this is another providential feature. The 
Hindoo law of inheritance heretofore presented a most 
formidable obstacle to the conversion of that people. 
The moment a man forsook the religion of his fathers, he 
made a complete forfeiture of property and rights. He 
beggared himself and his family. But He in whose hands 
are the hearts of all men, has moved on the minds of the 
ruling powers, to remove this obstacle too. The Govern- 
ment, by assuming the ground in a late act, that " all the 
religions professed by any of its subjects shall be equally 
tolerated and protected," has, at a blow, annihilated one 
of the most formidable obstacles to the conversion of the 
Hindoos. The Hindoo or the Mohammedan may now 
become a Christian, and abandon his caste, and yet suffer 
no disability or oppression. 

Another important item in this connection, is the late 
divorce of the English Government from all patronage of 
Idolatry. Formerly large appropriations, as a result of 
treaty stipulations, were made to the support of certain 
temples and Brahminical establishments, and a ruinous 
patronage was lent to certain pilgrimages and festivals, 
especially those of Juganauth ; and a very unchristian- 
like indulgence was granted to certain cruel and abom- 
inable rites and practices. The prohibition of infanticide 
was the first decisive act of the Government — the sup- 



PROGRESS IN TOLERATION. 231 

pression of the suttee followed ; and after a few years 
more the Government completely divorced itself from the 
vile and abominable thing which God hates ; and we 
may now expect that the influence of that Government, 
in the final suppression of Idolatry, and the establishment 
of Christianity, shall be vastly increased. 

But progress in Toleration, so distinctly marking a 
providential movement in the advancement of truth in 
the world, is not confined to India. Similar edicts have 
recently gone out from the Emperor of China, and from 
the Sublime Porte of the Turkish empire. In reply to a 
petition of the High Commissioner, Keying, the Emperor 
of China has decreed toleration to Christianity ; and the 
Sultan of Turkey " engages to take effectual measures to 
prevent, henceforward/' the persecution and putting to 
death of the man who shall change his religion. The 
bold, fearless and energetic remonstrance of Lord Aber- 
deen, organ of the British Government, in a letter ad- 
dressed (1844) to Sir Statford Canning, Embassador at 
Constantinople, speaks the mandates of Providence at 
the present day. Opinion shall be free. 

So much for facilities and resources. Let us now see 
what preparation for future progress there is in the success 
which has already attended our missionary enterprises. 
We shall again see that the fields are white already for 
the harvest — the reapers stand with sickle in hand — an 
immense power is accumulated for future progress. Past 
success not only supplies materials for future progress, but 
it indicates the removal of obstacles, and holds out the 
most cheering encouragement to a still more rapid suc- 
cess, and carries conviction to the mind of the heathen 
of the power of Christianity. 

What, then, has been done ? It will subserve our pre- 
sent purpose to confine our inquiries chiefly to India, 
Birmah, and the islands of the Pacific. 

The provinces of Krishnugar, Tinnevelly, Madura, 
Ceylon, and Western India, afford not only a wide and 
effectual door for the entrance of the missionary, but an 
unprecedented vantage ground has been gained at these 
points for the prosecution of all future labors ; and they 



232 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY 

may therefore very justly be introduced here as illustra- 
tions of the present providential condition of the world. 

Krishnugar, a province in Bengal, was a strong-hold of 
Brahmanism. No efforts seem to have been made for its 
conversion till 1832, when a few schools were estab- 
lished. Preaching commenced in 1835. The next year 
thirty-five were admitted to the church — the word was 
preached, and live hundred inquirers were found seeking 
the way of life. From that time the work made a gradual 
yet irresistible progress, till it has at length extended to 
no less than seventy-two villages, and numbers as the 
subjects of its pow r er, more than five thousand converts. 
Churches have been erected, and filled with attentive and 
devout hearers ; and schools established in which some 
thousands are receiving a Christian education. Christian 
ordinances are instituted ; the gospel preached, and the 
press is sending out the leaves of the tree of life. A ter- 
ritory of eighty miles in extent is thus brought under re- 
ligious culture. A fire is here kindled, whose light may 
shine far and wide over the vast regions of darkness 
which still cover India — an altar erected there from which 
may be taken coals to light up more fires throughout those 
dismal regions of death. 

The Bishop of Calcutta, after visiting this province, 
thus describes the progress of improvement since the 
work commenced : " A few months since all was jungle — 
now every thing is teeming with Christian civilization. 
What building is this ? I asked. " It is the girls' school." 
And this ? " The house for the mistress." And that 
large building ? " The mission house." And those small 
ones ? " They are out-offices." And that wall ? " It 
incloses the garden." And where is the new church, of 
which you talk, to stand ? " Here," was the answer, 
'*' and I will show you the ground plan." It was like 
magic. And not a brick of all this had been laid when 
I passed through the same place in 1839. What a bless- 
ing is Christianity! How it raises, civilizes, dignifies 
man ! How it turns, literally as well as figuratively, the 
wilderness and solitary place into the garden of the 
Lord ! 

In the progress the gospel has made in the southern 



PROGRESS OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. 233 

portion of the peninsula, we meet the same pledge of 
future success — a promising starting point for future oper- 
ations. " In Tinnevelly," says the same authority, Bishop 
Wilson, " the word of the Lord runs and is glorified more 
rapidly, and to a far wider extent. The inquirers and 
converts of the Gospel Propagation, and the Church Mis- 
sionary Societies, amount to thirty-five thousand. Such 
awakenings have not been surpassed since the days of 
the apostles, and there seems every prospect of all the 
South of India, containing millions of souls, becoming, 
ere long, the Lord's/' 

Some idea may be got of the progress of Christianity 
in Southern India, from the following statistics of the 
Church Missionary Society. There are connected with 
this single institution, aside from the missionaries them- 
selves, the following native agency : 267 native cate- 
chists — 192 school-masters — 6,842 baptized persons, 1,245 
of whom were added the last year — 19,706 candidates 
for baptism — 1,468 communicants — 30,000 persons under 
Christian instruction — and 461 villages under the care 
of the Mission. " The power of divine grace/' says one, 
" seems to me to have been so sudden and mighty as to 
strike with wonder every mind susceptible of religious 
impressions." "I have but very little doubt," writes 
another, " the whole population of Tinnevelly will soon 
renounce Heathenism and come over to Christianity," 

If regarded in no other light, what resources has Provi- 
dence here gathered, in the operations and success of this 
single society, for the future prosecution of the work. 
And were we to add here similar items furnished by the 
Reports of the American Board, the London and other 
Missionary societies, we should discover a cumulative 
power by which to act in time to come, truly encour- 
aging ; especially when taken in connection with the open 
door of access, and the readiness of the native mind to 
receive the gospel. Hundreds of villages have cast away 
their idols, and not a few are the temples which have been 
unceremoniously cleared of the emblems of idolatry, and 
elevated to the worship of the true God. These are 
verdant spots on which the good seed has taken root, and 

20* 



234 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

fruit is now abundantly ripening with which to feed the 
famishing tribes around. 

The American Mission at Madura has seven churches, 
fifteen stated congregations, one seminary, five boarding- 
schools, ninety free schools, and four thousand pupils in 
the various stages of learning. Forty villages have put 
themselves under the care of the Mission, and one hun- 
dred would do the same if the number of missionaries 
would allow of assuming such a responsibility. 

A specimen of the preparedness of this field to receive 
the good seed, may be gathered from a late appeal of the 
American Mission at Madura : " We are not aware," say 
they, " that there is, on the whole district of Madura, a 
town, village or hamlet, in which we could not, as far as 
the feelings of the people are concerned, establish schools 
and Christian instruction to any extent your pecuniary 
means will allow. The whole district, in the most accu- 
rate and strictest sense, is open to the reception of divine 
truth and the Christian teacher. Yea, more — there is 
scarcely a town or village from which we have not re- 
ceived a formal request, an earnest entreaty to send them 
a teacher. A population surrounds us, who speak one 
language, equalling more than half that of the United 
States. From one end of the land to the other, in city, 
town or country, the living minister will find the way 
prepared before him, to preach the tidings of a Saviour's 
love, and to distribute all the Bibles and Tracts the Amer- 
ican church will furnish." Again the same missionaries 
say, " Never do we pass through the streets of these vil- 
lages without being assailed by the question, Why do you 
not send a missionary here ? — we will receive him gladly ; 
we will send our children to your schools ; you must not 
pass us by." 

Such language is true, too, of other parts of India. 
Every missionary station is a door of entrance to a wide 
field beyond. And more than this is true : the Bible and 
the religious book is going before the living preacher, 
and preparing fields for his future labors, and creating 
demands which nothing but evangelical truth can satisfy. 
On a tour in the Northern Concan, beyond the reach of 
any direct missionary labors, Dr. Wilson finds a Brah- 



PROMISE OF COMPLETE SUCCESS. 235 

min reading a portion of the New Testament to a com- 
pany of natives who are eagerly listening. In Goozarat 
he meets some natives, about one hundred in number, 
residing in seven different places, at considerable distances 
apart, who professed to be converts to Christianity. He 
found, on inquiry, they had not had intercourse with any 
missionary, but had received the knowledge they pos- 
sessed of Christianity principally from books, aided by a 
native Christian from Bengal. They had openly pro- 
fessed Christianity, one of their number acting as their 
head and teacher. " I believe/' says the same mission- 
ary, " that instances of this nature are not unfrequent." 

Another missionary has recently reported a very sim- 
ilar case. " Recently two men came from another vil- 
lage, to inform us that a thousand persons — in conse- 
quence of reading some of our books — were desirous of 
putting themselves under our protection. The same 
messengers mentioned half a dozen villages where a sim- 
ilar change has been produced by the reading of Chris- 
tian books." 

Says Mr. Mather, of the London Missionary Society, 
" I had an interview with Mr. Hill, at Berhampore, and 
he told me that he and Mr. Lacroix were in conference 
with about five hundred natives, who were promising to 
come over to Christianity." And " about a year ago a 
proposal was made by a sect of about two hundred per- 
sons, that I should be their Gooroo, (spiritual guide,) that 
they would attend my instructions, and that together we 
would fully investigate Christianity." 

Such cases as the following are now occurring : While 
a missionary was waiting at a rest-house, he " saw the 
villagers assemble, and heard them addressed on the folly 
and wickedness of Idolatry, by a native, who was also a 
resident of the village. This man was not acquainted 
with any missionary, but had learned what he knew of 
the truth from books and tracts." 

Such instances afford delightful testimony, not only 
that the field is ripe for the harvest, but that there are 
agencies at work, which facilitate the progress of evan- 
gelization in a ratio hitherto unknown, and give pleasing 
promise of speedy and complete success. 



236 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

And here I would not withhold again the high author- 
ity of Bishop Wilson ; who, after a residence of some fif- 
teen years in India, discourses thus : " The fields in India 
are white already for the harvest. Nothing has, I be- 
lieve, been seen like it. An outburst of the native mind 
seems at hand. The diffusion of education; the striking 
benefits of medical science; the opening of an exhaust- 
less commerce on all hands ; the recently ascertained 
riches of the soil ; the extent and magnificence of the riv- 
ers and mines ; its superb harbors, including its almost 
interminable coasts ; the rapid increase of settlers from 
Great Britain and America ; the security of person and 
property under British rule ; the number of offices thrown 
open to native merit ; the railroad contemplated and al- 
most begun ; and the incredible rapidity of communica- 
tion by steam, uniting the whole world, as it were, into 
one vast family, are bringing on a crisis in the native 
mind most favorable to the introduction of Christianity." 
Again the Bishop speaks of his " firm belief that Hindoo- 
ism will soon altogether hide its head — the crescent of 
Mohammed already turns pale — worn out and effete su- 
perstition sinking before the mere progress of science and 
civilization, before the startling knowledge of history, the 
lights of chronological learning and the laws of evidence, 
of the incredible progress of religious principle ; of the 
more favorable disposition of Indian rulers towards Chris- 
tianity ; and of the decidedly improved moral and reli- 
gious character of the servants of the Honorable Conv 
pany." All of which help to make up the sum total of 
what God is doing to prepare that vast and populous land 
to receive the gospel of his Son. 

Similar testimony flows in upon us, unsolicited, from 
other quarters. The excellent Rhenius, German mission- 
ary in Southern India, says, " The Lord Jesus Christ is 
certainly magnifying his name in these parts ; Idolatry is 
rapidly diminishing; this wilderness begins everywhere 
to blossom ; many souls are delivered, not only from the 
bondage of Idolatry, but from sin in general ; villages are 
coming in constantly, casting away their idols, and giving 
up their temples to be used as Christian churches. I 
could furnish you with cooley loads of their neglected 



INCREASING SPIRIT OF INQUIRY. 237 

idols. " Say the corresponding committee of the Church 
Missionary Society, " The barriers of caste are rapidly 
breaking down ; there is an increasing spirit of inquiry 
about religion, and for moral and religious instruction ; 
deep-rooted prejudice against religious instruction no 
longer general ; the promotion of secular education a 
leading topic/' " A great desire has arisen among the 
youth of Calcutta to obtain and read the New Testament. 
We have not to go as formerly, and beg them to accept 
it. They come of their own accord, and solicit this 
blessed book. This desire is now prevalent among the 
pupils and students of schools of all grades." 

A feather indicates the course of the wind — so little 
facts are sure pledges of great and wide-spread changes : 
" Young Hindoos, who have received an English education, 
are establishing English schools in their own villages, and 
thus render themselves useful to their country, and effect- 
ually advance the truth. Rich zemindars pay them a 
small salary, and the parents of the children contribute 
their share for their support." 

Brahmins see the impending danger, and use every ef- 
fort to turn it away ; yet they say, " When Christianity 
obtains a permanent influence, we shall join your ranks." 
They are not ignorant of the influence of Christian 
schools over the minds of their youth. One recently 
said, " As soon as the boys learn to read, they become 
Christians ; hence I take my boy from school." A 
wealthy Brahmin, near Benares, recently gave up his son 
into the hands of a missionary with these remarkable 
words : " I feel convinced, after reading your sacred Shas- 
ters, that they contain the true religion. I have not the 
power to come up to the purity of its precepts, but here 
is my son, take him as your child ; feed him at your ta- 
ble, and bring him up a Christian ; at the same time making- 
over to him ten thousand rupees, (five thousand dollars,) 
to defray the expenses of his son's education." This is 
a new thing in India. The effect on the mind of the 
Hindoos will be incalculable ; a heavier blow has perhaps 
never been struck on the strong-holds of Idolatry. 

In no part of the great field has God provided a more 
powerful moral momentum for the future progress of the 



238 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

work than in Ceylon, Birmah, and China. But we may 
here forego details. Were we to take a survey of those 
countries, as providentially opened, and of the work as 
already in progress there, we should meet the same open 
field, the same preparation of mind, the same accumula- 
tion of power by which to urge onward the evangelical 
car, which we have seen in the instances already con- 
templated: missions established and a fund of experi- 
ence gained ; obstacles removed ; translations of the 
Scriptures, the press at work, and a store of religious 
books made ready ; a strong native agency, and efficient, 
extended educational systems in readiness for the work, 
and extended mental preparation in many thousands of 
native minds, all so many resources and facilities in the 
hands of God for the future progress of the work. 

A voice from the four winds proclaims the no distant 
fall of Paganism. It speaks of the " crumbling of idol 
temples," " colleges of Hindoo learning deserted," " gen- 
eral abatement of prejudice against Christianity," " the 
gradual increasing influence of missions and respect for 
missionaries," " six thousand eight hundred natives con- 
verted through the Church Missionary Society the last 
year," " every prospect that India will, perhaps, in a sin- 
gle generation, renounce Idolatry." Indeed, writes one, 
" the feeling is becoming general among the people of the 
East, that some extraordinary change is at hand, which 
is to be effected through the diffusion of Christianity." 
And well may they look for such an event when they see 
so much that is ominous in the signs of the times ; in the 
neglect of rites and ceremonies essential to their idol- 
atrous systems ; in the divisions and schisms among their 
priests, as in the fierce conflicts recently carried on in 
Bombay and Calcutta ; in the conversion to Christianity 
of not a few of their priests ; in the public discussions, as 
in Calcutta, where mighty champions for the truth and 
for the demolition of Brahminism have been raised up 
from the people themselves ; in the many newspapers and 
periodicals, both for and against Christianity, published in 
Calcutta, Bombay, and Madrass, and in the already wide 
diffusion of Christian and European learning. 

In the sacred city of Benares, among the gorgeous 



ISLANDS OF THE PACIFIC. 239 

monuments of Idolatry, stands a remarkable shaft, which 
is reputed once to have towered to the very clouds, but 
has been gradually sinking for many years. This the 
Hindoos regard as an index to their waning and sinking 
religion. When the shaft shall have sunk to the surface, 
and mother earth shall close in upon it, Hindooism shall 
be no more. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



The field prepared. Islands of the Pacific. Native agency. Liberality of native 
Churches. Outpouring of the Spirit and answers to Prayer. The first Monday of 
January. Timing of things. England in India— her influence. Success, a cumula- 
tive force for progress. The world at the feet of the Church. 

u Look on the fields ) for they are white already to harvest" 

Before closing our review of Pagan territories, we* 
must cast a glance over the isle-dotted waters of the 
Pacific. Here God is doing a new thing under the sun ; 
is constructing a new world, perhaps another continent, 
through the instrumentality of an infinite number of in- 
significant animalcules. Numerous islands, smiling in all 
the luxuriance of a new creation, have arisen from the 
bottom of the ocean, fabricated by the incessant toils of 
these minute workmen. They rise to the surface of the 
water, the waves contribute to convey materials to form 
a soil ; the birds of the air are commissioned to bring and 
plant seeds on them ; a luxuriant vegetation springs up ; 
man at length comes, and a new field is open for the rav- 
ages of sin, and a new field over which victorious grace 
shall yet raise her victorious banners. 

We have already traced the hand of God in bringing 
these several groups of islands to the notice of the civil- 
ized world and of the church ; how it was done just at 
the right time ; when religion and knowledge had become 



240 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

matured for a vigorous onset upon the powers of dark- 
ness ; when an unwonted spirit of benevolence had been 
roused in the church, and the angel of evangelism was 
prepared for his immortal flight. We are now concerned 
only with the present condition of those islands. They 
have already, for the most part, been brought within the 
dominions of nominal Christianity. Ninety islands are 
said to have received the law of their God, and a popula- 
tion of some four hundred thousand have nominally em- 
braced Christianity. Eight of these islands have been 
converted solely through a native agency, and forty or 
fifty are, at the present time, under the instruction of 
none but native laborers. In schools, in the power of the 
press, in a religious literature, in the experience and abil- 
ity of laborers, in governmental protection and aid, and 
in a consistent exemplification of the power of Chris- 
tianity in a multitude of converts, perhaps God has no- 
where accumulated a more efficient power for the future 
prosecution of his work.* 

In four groups of these islands, where, thirty years ago, 
the people were gross idolaters and cannibals, are now 
forty thousand church members. In a district of the isl- 
and of New Zealand, the average attendance on divine 
worship is seven thousand five hundred, and one thou- 
sand four hundred candidates for baptism. From the 
Sandwich Islands we now receive such reports as these : 
Printed by the mission, in a single year, ten and a half 
millions of pages, nearly half of which were the Scrip- 
tures ; seven boarding-schools with three hundred and 
sixty-one scholars ; four select schools ; a boarding-school 
for the children of the chiefs ; a mission seminary with 
one hundred pupils, to which is attached a theological 
class ; a female seminary with sixty pupils, and three 

* We may take the following as a specimen of the influence of the school system on the 
future destinies of the people : The seminary at Lahainaluna (Sandwich Islands,) has 
sent out two hundred and ninety-six pupils, of whom forty-two have died, two hun- 
dred and fifty-four in the field. Of these, one hundred and eight are engaged in the 
work of teaching; forty-three in the service of government; thirty-one, though not en- 
gaged in teaching, are usefully employed in letting their light shine. Of the remaining 
seventy-eight, some are engaged in honorable employments, while others are idle, or 
worse than idle. One hundred and fifteen are in good standing in the church. The in- 
stitution is thus scattering blessings throughout the islands ; its graduates are every- 
where the leading members of society, in matters, civil, religious, and literary. " In 
manual labor they are several times more valuable than other natives, having acquired 
habits of industry, and learned how to work while at school." 



SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS. 241 

hundred and fifty-seven common schools, taught by five 
hundred and five teachers, and containing twenty thou- 
sand scholars. And to this prospective, though already 
in a degree effective, force, we add the daily preach- 
ing and the faithful instructions of eighty mission- 
aries and assistant missionaries, with six hundred native 
teachers and catechists, with the goodly profession and 
the ordinary activities of twenty-four thousand church 
members, and several thousands of inquirers and candi- 
dates, who, in the judgment of charity, are the children of 
God, and we have before us an instrumentality by which 
we may expect soon to see all those beautiful islands laid 
at the feet of the Redeemer ; and vast resources secured 
for the prosecution of the work elsewhere. Or who can 
contemplate the vast amount of knowledge and civiliza- 
tion that has been secured in other islands of the Pa- 
cific ; the Christian instruction that has been imparted ; 
the educational systems that are in operation ; the mis- 
sionary experience that has been gained; the native 
agency that is prepared ; and the divine power that has 
been exemplified by tens of thousands of living examples, 
and not read in these things a sure pledge for the speedy 
consummation of the work? 

Or who can look for a moment at the Feegee Islands, 
and not be impressed that now is the accepted year of 
the Lord ? Where, but a few years ago, was a popula- 
tion of gross, greedy cannibals, now are happy, peaceful 
communities. 

There is, perhaps, at present, not a more marked or en- 
couraging feature of the missionary work than the prev- 
alent conviction of the value of a native agency, and the 
fact that every principal mission is directing its efforts 
especially to create such an agency. Mission col- 
leges, in full growth or in embryo, with a theological 
class attached, are fast gathering in the choicest material 
from the lower schools, and preparing it for future service. 
A new agency is thus coming into existence, whose pro- 
gress is in geometrical ratio, and which shall, ere long, 
supply a native ministry, native preachers, literati, pro- 
fessional men of all classes ; book-makers and publishers ; 
civilians, statesmen, and rulers. No feature, perhaps, 

21 



242 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

more distinctly indicates the designs of Providence in ref- 
erence to the conversion of the world. Hopeless, indeed, 
is the task of ever supplying the heathen world with 
preachers from abroad ; but the work assumes another as- 
pect the moment the eye turns to the native agency, which, 
in germ at least, is met in every mission school and sem- 
inary from Oregon to Japan, east or west. Such agency 
is already acting far more extensively and efficiently, 
perhaps, than is generally known. The late German 
missionary, Rhenius, was wont to preach in one hundred 
villages on every Sabbath day. That number of native 
preachers and catechists, on Saturday, received the word 
at his mouth, and thence went and preached in as many 
different places. Some entire printing establishments, as 
the extensive one in Bombay, are conducted wholly by 
native skill and labor.* Extensive school establishments 
are, in their details, carried on by the same agency. We 
wonder how a single missionary can act as pastor to a 
church of eight thousand members, scattered over an almost 
inaccessible country of thirty miles in extent. The won- 
der ceases when told that this church embraces thirty 
congregations, which assemble in as many different 
places, under the immediate care and instruction of as 
many catechists or sub-pastors. The heads of depart- 
ments and the funds, in the missionary work, must, for 
some time to come, be furnished principally from abroad, 
but the details of the work are fast passing into native 
hands. Some fifty islands in the Pacific are said already 
to be under the instruction of natives alone. " Mount 
Lebanon," says a high authority, " will furnish missiona- 
ries for the sixty millions speaking the Arabic language, 
and noble missionaries too." 

Another promising feature is the liberality and self- 
denial of the native churches. In their deep poverty 
they are contributing liberally to send the gospel to 
the dark regions beyond them. The American Board 

• Thomas Graham, the superintendent of the American press at Bombay, was one of 
those young lads who accompanied the Rev. Gordon Hall on his late tour, and alone 
witnessed the dying moments of that excellent man, and gave him his humble sepul- 
ture, far from friends, and among idolatrous strangers. Thomas was a poor boy, who 
early came under the care of the mission ; was nurtured and elevated by them — con- 
verted by the grace of God — and, after rendering various useful services, was at length, 
raised to this responsible and important trust. 



NATIVE CONTRIBUTIONS. 243 

recently reported one hundred dollars received from a 
church at the Sandwich Islands for the education of a 
girl in the female seminary in Ceylon, collected during 
one year at the monthly concert for prayer. Mr. Wil- 
liams tells a beautiful story in point here. When on a 
visit to the native Christians at Aitutaki, he was explain- 
ing the manner in which the British Christians raised 
money to send the gospel to the heathen. They ex- 
pressed their regret that they had no money to give. He 
replied : " If you have no money, you have something to 
buy money with." What ? " The pigs I brought you ; 
they have increased abundantly, and if every family 
would set apart one, and when the ships come, sell them 
for money, a valuable contribution might be raised." 
The idea delighted them ; and the next morning the 
squealing of pigs, which were receiving a mark in the 
ear for the purpose, was heard from one end of the set- 
tlement to the other. A ship came ; the pledges were 
sold, and the avails realized ; and soon the native treas- 
urer paid over for missionary purposes £103. It was 
their first money. 

We are permitted to chronicle such instances as the 
following : The people of Tahiti and of the neighboring 
islands, contributed £527 in one year to the British and 
Foreign Bible Society. The London Missionary Soci- 
ety acknowledged in one year, £17,748 from their mis- 
sion churches ; £5,000 of which was from Southern In- 
dia, as a contribution to the Jubilee Fund ; half of the 
latter sum was contributed by the native church at Na- 
gercoil; £160 at one station in Jamaica. The English 
Baptist Missionary Society report £1,200 contributed in 
a single year by their mission churches towards the sup- 
port of their pastors. The Rev. Mr. Davis, pastor of a 
mission church of Africans, at New Amsterdam, South 
America, says, " During the five years of my pastorate 
there, that congregation contributed £7,000 to various 
objects of charity." As early as 1821, we find a native 
missionary society organized at Tahiti, and a " great num- 
ber of missionaries sent thence to other islands." Tha 
church at Hilo, Sandwich Islands, contributed to different 
benevolent purposes, from four hundred to six hundred 



244 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

dollars annually. The Sandwich Island churches con- 
tributed last year, thirteen thousand seven hundred and 
eighty-two dollars, to different benevolent purposes, five 
thousand of which came from the Hawaiian Bible Soci- 
ety, which is one of the best auxiliary Bible Societies in 
the world. 

Much importance may, very justly, be attached to the 
self-denying and benevolent spirit of these churches, as 
indicative of God's purpose soon to convert the world. 
While enjoying, themselves, scarcely more than the bare 
necessity of subsistence, they have begun their Christian 
existence in a noble recognition of the first principles of 
the gospel. From such a generation of Christians, the 
church and the world may expect much. 

Laudable efforts, too, drawing heavily on the slender 
resources of native converts, are at the same time making, 
especially in the Pacific Ocean, to build church edifices 
for themselves, and in part, or in whole, to support their 
pastors. In the records of those missions we are fre- 
quently meeting items like the following: "Erecting a 
stone church, one hundred and twenty-five feet by sixty, 
and three temporary buildings at the same time at out- 
stations." " The walls of another church rising at one 
point, and materials collecting at another." In the year 
1840, there were built, or in progress of building, at the 
Sandwich Islands, eight large churches, one of which was 
one hundred and forty-four feet by seventy-eight. For the 
building of one, the King gave three thousand dollars, the 
chiefs and people having already given two thousand five 
hundred dollars. 

And while these noble efforts are making to provide 
suitable and durable edifices for the worship of God, ef- 
forts equally laudable are making to provide needed ac- 
commodations for schools. At four stations, at the Sand- 
wich Islands, eighty school-houses were built in a single 
year — forty-two in connection with one station — " large, 
pleasantly situated, with verandas and play-grounds 
around them." And not a few of these same churches 
are contributing from one hundred, to four hundred and 
five hundred dollars a year for the support of their pas- 
tors. The church in Honolulu, in 1845, raised five hun- 



OUTPOURING OF THE SPIRIT. 245 

dred and seventy dollars for the support of their pastor. 
The church of Wailuku paid for the same purpose, in 
1844, seven hundred and twenty-five dollars, besides sup- 
porting a native preacher at an out-station, and contribu- 
ting fifty-four dollars at the monthly concert for prayer, 
and building a church at an out-station. The church at 
Lahaina contributed, in the same year, as follows : Three 
hundred and twenty-one dollars for the support of their 
pastor; two thousand and four hundred dollars for re- 
building a church ; one hundred and eighty dollars for 
the support of school teachers. The church of Molokai, 
besides the entire support of their pastor, contributed, in 
the same year, six hundred and seventy-eight dollars to 
different objects of benevolence. 

j The following paragraph recently appeared in one of 
our religious papers. It will further illustrate the point 
in hand. " We have learned wiffi surprise, and yet de- 
light, that a Foreign Missionary Society in the Sandwich 
Islands has sent to the American Home Missionary So- 
ciety a donation for planting the gospel in our own west ! 
Think of it ! The converted heathen of yesterday rally- 
ing to bless pur own land. Awake ! ye sleepy and care- 
less ones in our churches, who have never felt or done 
any thing in the cause of domestic missions. Make 
haste! or these converts from heathenism will be the 
means of saving your own kindred. 

" Nor have the liberality and public spirit of the Ha- 
waiian people been manifested merely in supporting their 
pastors and erecting houses of worship. It is estimated 
that, during the seven years ending December, 1844, they 
had contributed nineteen thousand nine hundred and 
eighty-seven dollars ; and during the last year, they had 
raised not less than three thousand one hundred and five 
dollars."* 

Other encouraging features, indicating the hand of 
God as stretched out to bless our missionary enterprises, 
appear in the extraordinary outpouring of the Spirit on 
mission churches, and signal answers to prayer. The re- 
cent extraordinary outpourings of the Spirit and revivals of 



* Report of American Board for 1845. 

21* 



246 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

religion on the Island of Ceylon, at the Sandwich Islands, 
and among the Choctaws, Armenians and Nestorians, are 
indications full of hope. Perhaps in the whole history of 
religious revivals, the power of the Spirit has not been 
more signally manifested, revealing the mighty hand of 
God. Should similar displays of Divine power be expe- 
rienced by every Christian mission now in operation, (a 
thing not more improbable,) we might hail such an event 
as the long expected conversion of the world. 

Akin to this, are the signal answers to grayer, which 
Heaven has, within a few years past, vouchsafed. I will 
illustrate only by answers to prayer on a single occasion: 
The friends of missions have been wont, for some years 
past, to observe the first Monday of January as a day of 
prayer for the outpouring of the Spirit on the world, and 
especially for the success of foreign missions. Results 
like the following have come to my knowledge. Others,- 
more observing of God's movements among the heathen, 
may add to the list. A few instances will be given where 
prayer seems to have been answered, on a remote part of 
the globe, on the very day, and perhaps the same hour, it 
was offered : 

On the first Monday of January, 1833, there was an 
extraordinay and unaccountable religious movement on 
the minds of a class of natives who had been for a few 
months under Christian instruction at Ahmednuggur. 
The writer, then the only missionary at the station, in- 
vited all who wished to be Christians, to meet him for re- 
ligious conversation and inquiry ; when, to his surprise, 
thirteen responded to the call ; all, apparently, deeply con- 
victed of sin, and wishing to be pointed to the Saviour. 
The number was in a few days increased to sixteen, 
most of whom subsequently became members of the 
church. And this self same day was distinguished in 
other places by the power of the same blessed Spirit. In 
Richmond, Va., the pastors and churches were assembled 
for prayer. The lamented Armstrong, late Secretary of 
the American Board, was there. He had been a trusty 
friend of missions before ; " but the time when his whole 
soul seemed to be peculiarly moved for the heathen, and 
he was, as it were, newly baptized with the missionary 



EFFECT OF PRAYER MEETINGS. 247 

spirit, was at the meeting for prayer for the conversion 
of the world, held on the first Monday of January, 1833. 
Standing among the ministers, and before the assembled 
churches of Richmond, with a countenance glowing with 
love, he said, " My brethren, I am ashamed that there are 
so many of us here in this Christian land. We must go 
to the heathen." " That day of prayer," says one who 
was present, " made an impression on many hearts, which 
was deep and lasting." This was doubtless the way in 
which God was preparing him to perform the labors to 
which he was soon to be called, in connection with the 
foreign missionary work. 

At a subsequent period, Rev. Mr. Spaulding, of Ceylon, 
says, " I was called up at midnight, on the first Monday 
in January, by one of the girls of the Oodooville school, 
and informed that the whole school was assembled in the 
large lecture room for prayer. On going thither, and 
seeing all present to hear what the Lord would com- 
mand them, I found them in a most interesting state of 
mind ; and this was the beginning of the great revival of 
religion in Ceylon. Inquiring how this thing originated, 
Mr. S. found the larger girls, (the younger ones having 
retired,) had assembled for their evening prayer meeting, 
and not being willing to separate at the usual hour, the 
interest became so intense that one after another called 
up a friend to share in the good feeling, till, at length, the 
whole school were assembled. 

The first Monday of January, 1838, presented a scene 
of thrilling interest at the Sandwich Islands. " At the 
rising of the sun, the church and congregation at Hono- 
lulu, filling one of the largest houses of worship on the 
islands, united in solemn prayer for the outpouring of the 
spirit of God." And thence followed a series of pro- 
tracted meetings throughout the islands, and a general re- 
vival of religion blessed the nation. This was the be- 
ginning of what is known as the "great revival." By 
midsummer, more than five thousand had been received 
into the church, and two thousand four hundred stood 
propounded for membership. Though there had been 
some favorable indications of a spiritual movement some 
time previous, and the preceding Sabbath had been a day 



248 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

of unusual interest at Honolulu, yet we may date the be 
ginning of the great revival on that day. Now the win- 
dows of heaven were opened, and the refreshing rain 
came ; and, as the fruits of the remarkable work, there 
were gathered into the churches, (1838 — 40,) twenty 
thousand persons; and more than three thousand re- 
mained as candidates for admission. 

On the first Monday of January, 1846, two of the oldei 
girls in Miss Fisk's school at Ooroomiah, linger after morn- 
ing prayers. She inquires the reason ; finds they feel them- 
selves to be lost sinners, and ask that they may spend the 
day in retirement. In a few days they are rejoicing in 
the hope of sins forgiven. Five others come to Miss F. 
the same day, and ask what they shall do to be saved ? 
and, with no knowledge of what had taken place in Miss 
Fisk's school, a considerable number of Mr. Stoddard's 
scholars came to him with the same inquiry. From this 
hour w T e date the commencement of the present powerful, 
extensive revival of religion, which has already pervaded, 
not only the two seminaries, but the city of Ooroomiah 
and the adjacent villages, and has spread even among the 
mountains, and already numbers more than one hundred 
and fifty converts ; to say nothing of the deep and far- 
reaching moral influence which this religious movement 
has produced on the Nestorian mind in general, and the 
conviction of the power of evangelical truth. Nor was 
this all: just two years before, (Monday, January, 1844,) 
there were decisive indications of the mighty workings of 
the spirit at the same station, producing a happy effect 
on the hearts of the native Christians and missionaries, 
but resulting in the conversion of only one individual, and 
he a young man the most unlikely to be thus effected. 
But he afterwards became a most efficient helper in the 
mission, and, perhaps, did more than any other one, to 
prepare the way for the great work now in progress. 
God first prepares his instruments, then does his work. 

On the same day, (1846,) the spirit was poured out 
from on high, upon the Choctaws. " A pleasant state of 
things existed a few days previous, but on Monday, (Jan- 
uary 5th,) the spirit came down in power, and a mighty 
work began," and did not end till more than two hundred 



THE TIMING OF THINGS. 249 

were gathered into the church, which did not number be- 
fore above seven hundred. " Before they call I will an- 
swer, and while they are yet speaking, I will hear." 

But I must avoid so much detail. I shall group, in the 
briefest possible space, a variety of providential interpo- 
sitions, which should by no means be passed in silence. 
We shall discover in them many interesting coincidences 
and junctures, which cannot but convey to the mind of 
the Christian a pleasing conviction that God is in the 
work, and, therefore, it cannot fail. They are such as 
these : 

The timing of things so as to make one answer to an- 
other ; as the discovery of the South Sea Islands just be- 
fore that wonderful period, when, amidst the " throes of 
kingdoms and the convulsions of the civilized world," a 
missionary spirit was wonderfully diffused among British 
Christians. The idol gods at the Sandwich Islands are 
cast away while missionaries are yet on their way thither. 
A wise Providence had raised up and fitted such charac- 
ters as Kaahumanu, Kalanimaki, and Kaumualii ; char- 
acters so peculiarly suited to the crisis as obviously to 
indicate that they were the agents of Heaven, raised up 
for this very purpose. These islands became consoli- 
dated under one government, and the conflicting inter- 
ests of different chiefs annihilated just in time to prepare 
the whole group for a national reform. The young and 
dissolute king, from whom the mission had much to feai 
and nothing to hope, is cut off by death in a foreign land, 
and his remains are sent back in charge of the noble By- 
ron, whose influence is nobly employed on behalf of the 
mission. The most despicable and decidedly hostile 
chief, Boki, (Governor of Oahu,) is sacrificed to a mad 
project of his own devising. From small beginnings, and 
in a manner peculiarly providential, an extraordinary in- 
strument for reform is prepared in the person of Kaahu- 
manu, and raised to the highest pinnacle of power. The 
rebellion in Kanai results in the final prostration of the 
Anti-christian party. And the timely visit of Van Cou- 
ver, of the Blonde, the Peacock, the Vincennes, and the 
noble bearing of their chief officers towards the incipient 
mission, and the salutary influence exerted by them on 



250 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

the minds of the chiefs and people, are providential inter- 
positions worthy of record. 

Nor was this all. The mission schools were taken 
under the patronage of the government, just at the time 
when it had become impossible to sustain them by the 
mission. 

And who has not traced, with grateful admiration, the 
origin and growth of the missionary spirit ; how it has 
expanded and warmed the heart of the church in propor- 
tion as the field opened to receive the gospel; the in- 
creasing philanthropy of Christendom, a sensibility to 
every thing that effects the well-being of man, and the 
general expectation of the world's speedy conversion ? 
Whence this, but a divine premonition, a dark foreboding 
of idolatry's doom? Says an intelligent missionary, 
" the feeling is becoming general that some extraordinary 
change is near at hand, which is to be effected by the 
diffusion of Christianity." A singular presentiment pre- 
vails among the Mohammedans ; and a strange, irrepres- 
sible restlessness in Italy and other papal countries, pre- 
dicts some mighty change in great Babylon. Even in 
the Vatican, " Prelates and Cardinals, and the late dying 
Pope, have visions of threatening tempests, of disaster 
and trouble, from whence there is no escape." 

Again, we have the footsteps of Providence in the 
machinery prepared ; in organized action, societies — the 
army marshalled and ready for the field ; in the improved 
character of nominal Christians residing in pagan lands ; 
in the late divorce of the connection which has hitherto 
existed between the English Government and Hindoo 
idolatry ; in the suppression of the Suttee and Infanti- 
cide ; in the extreme sensitiveness of Anti-ehristian powers 
to the prevalence of pure Christianity, rousing the spirit 
of persecution, indicative of the progress of Christianity ; 
in the oppression and extortion of the priesthood, which 
is driving many from their long-cherished superstition to 
take refuge under the mild banners of the gospel ; in the 
decrease of the Papal priesthood ; # in the increased at- 

• Statistics which have recently been presented, on the decrease of the clerical 
order, show a diminution of the Romish clergy, amounting to near 900,000 within the 
last fifty years. 



GREAT MORAL CHANGE. 251 

tention of Pagan nations to the study of the English lan- 
guage ; and in the present advanced condition of know- 
ledge, civilization and freedom. Advancement in the 
arts and sciences, in civilization and civil liberty, is a no 
doubtful presage that the kingdom of the Messiah is at 
hand. It is the hand of the Lord preparing for the 
universal spread of the gospel. Religion is found eventu- 
ally to come down to the social and intellectual condi- 
tion of a people. Nothing in the past history of Chris- 
tianity warrants us to expect that a pure, healthful 
Christianity will long remain among a people ignorant 
and unacquainted with the arts of civilized life. 

The moral change, too, which, during the last forty 
years, has taken place among European and American resi- 
dents in heathen countries, is an indication of, and a pre- 
paration for, coming good. In India, it is a presage of 
much good. r l hen, scarcely a righteous man could be 
found there. There was no church, no Sabbath, no 
chaplaincies, no mercantile house closed on the Sabbath. 
" English residents were as much strangers to the gospel 
as the Hindoos or the Mohammedans." But now how 
changed. Not a mercantile house is now open on the Sab- 
bath.* Instead of an " universal, unblushing disregard of 
religion," there are scattered over India, in its length and 
breadth, delightful specimens of piety. More lovely, 
active, and benevolent Christians are not to be met, than 
they whose light shines in that land of darkness. How 
different a starting point has the gospel now, how in- 
creased the resources of piety for its onward progress ! 

We cannot too profoundly admire the wonder-working 
hand that has given, as before noticed, such preponder- 
ance in Pagan countries, to the present two great mari- 
time nations ; that such a country as India, which has 
once given religion, science, and civilization to all the 
East, should now be thrown into Anglo-Saxon hands ; 
into the hands of a nation of such extent and power and 
maritime skill, and such resources and intelligence and 



* A late number of the Bombay Times states that the Governor-general has directed 
that henceforth there shall be no "labor on the public works throughout Hindoostan, on 
the Sabbath. The same paper adds, U A similar measure introduced three years sine© 
by Sir George Arthur into Bombay, has been eminently successful." 



252 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

piety, and every advantage for propagating the gospel. 
There has, perhaps, never been an arrangement of Prov- 
idence, in all the revolutions of nations, which, when 
rightly viewed, excites a profounder wonder. The reli- 
gious and intellectual influence of India has always been, 
and is likely to be, great over the whole East. Once 
converted to Christianity, she may again send her mis- 
sionaries, not as formerly, to propagate error, but to carry 
the full horn of salvation to the remotest extremities of 
Asia. 

Time would fail to trace out the many ways in which 
the wealth, power, and learning of England are contribu- 
ting to prepare the way of the Lord in India. The 
power of her arms and the skill of her statesmen have 
done it by securing protection for the missionary ; while 
the researches of her scholars have been accumulating a 
power in the hands of the same missionary for the prose- 
cution of his work. Colebrook and Sir Wm. Jones, and 
the many philosophers, linguists, historians, and literati, 
who have gained immortality in Indian lore, have been 
unconsciously forging the weapons of the missionary 
warfare. Every acquisition in true science, every ad- 
vanced step in literature, history, geography, is a blow 
struck at the heart of Hindooism, so interwoven is error 
into the very warp and woof of Hindoo learning. 

And the British Christian will here pardon us for say- 
ing that we think the providence worthy of much admira- 
tion, that so strong and encouraging a missionary spirit 
should pervade the American Church, that the gospel 
should be so extensively sent from this country, the land 
of revivals, of general intelligence, and freedom ; that 
religion of such a type should be so prominently stamped 
on pagan nations. 

The hand of God is abundantly visible, too, in the 
increased demand for the Sacred Scriptures. I speak 
now more especially of anti-christian nations. The people 
in almost every portion of the world show an unwonted 
desire to become acquainted with the Christian's Bible, 
though generally opposed by the priesthood. Whence 
this desire, if not wrought into the world's mind by the 
Spirit from on high ? The Bible and the Paganism of 






CONDITION OF THE PAGAN WORLD. 253 

India, or of Rome, cannot long live together. We may, 
therefore, regard this desire to possess and read the pure 
word of God, both as a providential preparation and a 
premonition of the speedy coming of the Messiah's king- 
dom. 

Finally, the present condition of the Pagan world, as 
providentially prepared to receive the gospel, is full of 
encouragement. The field is open, explored ; a know- 
ledge of different countries has been gained, of manners, 
customs, languages, and religions ; a rich fund of experi- 
ence has been acquired. Providence has accumulated 
vast resources for the work, and provided immense 
facilities. The missionary work is almost necessarily 
progressive. Not only does each missionary station cre- 
ate resources and facilities for its own extension, but the 
success of one station prepares the way for the estab- 
lishment of another, and the work thus becomes self-pro- 
pagating in an accelerating ratio. Take the missions of 
the American Board for an example. The success of 
these missions, if estimated only by* the number of con- 
versions, (by no means a fair estimate of real results,) 
" has been twelve times as great during the last ten 
years, as it was in the whole previous twenty-six years 
of the Board's history." Ten years ago there were 
2,000 members of the Board's mission churches, now 
there are more than 24,000. All that has been done is a 
cumulative force for onward progress. 

Our success, again, urges on the Pagan mind our most 
convincing, tangible argument for the divinity of our 
religion. Christianity now has its monuments in every 
Pagan country. It has transformed character, morally, 
socially, politically. We can now point to these monu- 
ments, and challenge investigation for the divine original 
of our religion. It has refined, elevated, purified charac- 
ter. It has done in a few short years what the wisest 
and most refined systems of idolatry and oriental philoso- 
phy have not begun to do in as many centuries. We 
can point to living illustrations of the power of the 
gospel ; how it has gone up to the springs of moral 
corruption, and cast in the salt there. We can point 
to individuals, to families, communities, nations, that 

22 



254: HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

have been transformed, civilized, elevated, and radi- 
cally improved by the simple power of the gospel. This 
is the lever of Providence, by which to overthrow the 
whole Pagan world, and on its mouldering ruins to rear 
the beautiful superstructure of his everlasting truth. The 
blind votaries of idolatry are not so blind as not to see 
this, and not so disingenuous as not sometimes to acknow- 
ledge it. " We look," says a Sandwich Islander, " at the 
power with w hich the gospel has been attended in effect- 
ing the entire overthrow of idolatry among us, and which 
we believe no human means could have induced us to 
abandon." In like manner, a Hindoo Brahmin is made 
to pay the same unwilling homage to the truth, when, on 
hearing the gospel preached, he said, " Nothing can stand 
before the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ." 

Thus are we furnished, from the success of missions, 
not only with the means of still greater success, but with 
an overwhelming argument on the heathen mind, in favor 
of the truth of Christianity. 

With a few exceptions, found in Central Africa, or in 
the ill-defined regions of Tartary and Kamschatka, the 
God that worketh wonders, has, in the mysterious work- 
ings of his providence, opened the entire world to the 
gospel. The Macedonian cry comes to us from every 
nation, and tongue, and people, and kindred on the face 
of the earth. In past ages of the church, the prayers of 
God's people went up, that the Great Master would grant 
access to the unevangelized nations, and raise up and 
qualify men for the work. Those prayers have been 
heard. The world lies in a ready, in a beseeching pos- 
ture, at the feet of the children of the Highest. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



Mohammedan countries and Mohammedanism. The design, origin, character, 
success, extent of Islamism. Mohammed a Reformer — not an Impostor. Whence 
the power and permanency of Mohammedanism 1 Promise to Ishmael— hope for 
him. The power of Islam on the wane. Turks the watch-dogs of Providence, to 
hold in check the Beast and the Dragon. Turkish reforms — Toleration— Innova- 
tions— A pleasing reflection. 

u And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live 
before thee!" — Gen. xvii. 18. 

We shall now turn to Mohammedan countries, and 
attempt to trace the hand of God as there at work, to 
prepare the lands which have so long languished under 
the pale light of the crescent, to receive the gospel of the 
Messiah. Our inquiry now relates to the present condi- 
tion of Mohammedanism and Mohammedan countries, 
as providentially prepared to receive Christianity. 

It will not be irrelevant, first, to take a brief survey of 
this extraordinary form of faith — its design, origin, char- 
acter, success, and extent. We shall all along keep the 
eye steadily fixed on the providential agency engaged in 
this stupendous system. The whole enormous fabric of 
Mohammedanism is one vast monument, or arrangement 
of Providence, in conducting the affairs, especially the 
moral affairs, of this world. 

We may then, first, inquire why Mohammedanism was 
ever permitted to be — what was the providential design 
to be accomplished by that extraordinary man, who rose 
in Arabia in the seventh century ? We do not see great 
systems of religion, and mighty empires rise and flourish, 
and for centuries exert a controlling influence over large 
portions of the world, without a correspondingly import- 
ant divine purpose. What is this purpose in reference to 
Mohammedanism ? We may not pretend fully to answer 
this question, yet we may doubtless point out some of 
the purposes, which lay in the divine mind, when he per- 
mitted the Man of Mecca to embark in the arduous 
enterprise of giving to the world a new religion. 



256 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

Three points here claim our attention : The design of 
God in this system ; the design of Mohammed, and the 
design of Satan. 

The design of God seems to have been, first, to fulfill 
his promise to a great branch of the Abrahamic family, 
the posterity of Ishmael ; and secondly, to check effect- 
ually the power and progress of idolatry, and to scourge 
a corrupt Christianity ; to rebuke and humble an apos- 
tate church by making her enemy a fairer example of 
God's truth than she was herself. The design of Mo- 
hammed — bating the aspirations of ambition — seems to 
have been to destroy idolatry, and to give the world a 
new religion, and a better one, than he had met else- 
where. And the design of the devil was to make the 
new 7 system a great delusion, by which he might hope to 
retain in bondage that large portion of the human race, 
which had become too much enlightened, longer to be 
held by a system of gross idolatry. 

A moment's glance at the origin, progress, and charac- 
ter of Islamism, will confirm what I have said. In the 
9th chapter of the Revelations, a corrupt Christianity, 
personified in the first Pope, perhaps, is represented as a 
" star fallen from heaven unto the earth/' to whom was 
given the key of the bottomless pit. The propagation of 
false doctrines, especially on the nature of the Trinity, 
and the worship of images, saints, and angels, afforded to 
the prophet a plausible pretext, and prepared the way for 
Mohammed and his religion. He opened the pit, " and 
there arose a smoke out of the pit as the smoke of a 
great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened by 
reason of the smoke of the pit:" a striking description of 
Mohammedanism as a religious power. It is a grand 
delusion, which blinds the eyes of men, or so bedims and 
perverts their vision that they can only see as through a 
glass darkly. But it was more than a religious power. 
It was a great civil and military power. "And there 
came out of the smoke locusts on the earth, and unto 
them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have 
power. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto 
horses prepared unto battle ; and on their heads were, as it 
were, crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces 



MOHAMMEDAN COUNTRIES. 257 

of men. And they had hair as the hair of women, and 
their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had 
breast-plates, as it were breast-plates of iron, and the 
sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of 
many horses running to battle. And they had a king 
over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit." 

No one can more accurately describe an Arabian 
army. Numerous as the swarms of " locusts" from the 
southern shore ; vindictive and deadly as the " scorpion ;" 
consisting chiefly of cavalry, with turbans on their heads 
resembling " crowns ;" with long hair as the " hair of 
women," thus bearing some marks of gentleness and 
timidity, yet they have teeth " like the teeth of lions." 
They have faces as the " faces of men," appear like men, 
yet they are unchained tigers. They ravage and destroy 
without mercy. They are a well organized army, have 
a king over them, as one commissioned by the destroying 
angel ; are actuated by one spirit ; harmonize in their 
object, to scourge a corrupt church, and to destroy 
idolatry. They have " breast-plates of iron ;" are pro- 
tected by a strong civil power. They produce a great 
tumult in the world ; fly from one country to another, 
like an army with chariots and many horsemen. 

They had power to hurt Jive months — one hundred and 
fifty years. Mohammed began publicly to announce his 
divine commission in the year 612 — and the violence of 
his aggressions was stayed on the building of Bagdad, 
and the transfer of the Caliphate thither, a. d. 762. The 
smoke, however, the religious delusion, continued. The 
fierce military character — the flying, furious, stinging, 
scorpion-like locusts, abated in their ravages ; yet the 
civil and religious dominion over the fairest portions of 
the world continued, and is to continue, till it shall have 
accomplished its twelve hundred and sixty years. 

At the close of the one hundred and fifty years, the 
banners of the crescent waved victorious over the whole 
Roman empire. Arabia had yielded to the Prophet before 
his death. Syria, Persia and Egypt were soon made the 
vassals of his proud successors. Within twelve years 
after the Hegira, thirty-six thousand cities, towns and 
castles, are said to have been subjugated to the new con- 
22* 



258 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

querors ; four thousand Christian temples destroyed, and 
one thousand four hundred mosques dedicated to the 
Prophet. Africa was soon subdued — the Moors converted 
to the new religion ; who, in their turn, descend into 
Spain, and there establish a magnificent empire. "The 
victorious standard of the crescent was raised on the 
cold mountains of Tartary, and on the burning sands of 
Ethiopia." The Moslem empire extended from the At- 
lantic to Japan — across the entire continents of Africa 
and Asia — into Spain, and France as far North as the 
Loire, and over the Indian islands, embracing Sumatra, 
Java, Borneo, Celebes, and the Manillas. The island of 
Goram, one of the spice islands, may be taken as the 
eastern boundary of Islamism. 

The Moslems appeared even under the walls of Vienna, 
whence they were turned back, and Europe saved from 
the scourge of the East, by the noble Poles, as they had 
been driven out of France by the intrepid Charles MarteL 
At the close of its first century, the Saracenic empire 
embraced the fairest and the largest portion of the civ- 
ilized world. 

But let us return to the design : First, I said God de- 
signed now to fulfill his promise to the posterity of Ish- 
mael. Ishmael was a child of Abraham, and though the 
blessing should descend through Isaac, the child of pro- 
mise, yet a blessing was reserved for Ishmael. As God 
was pronouncing the blessing on the seed of promise, 
Abraham, with a father's tenderness, " said unto God, O 
that Ishmael might live before thee." Is there no blessing 
for Ishmael ? " And God said — as for Ishmael I have 
heard thee : Behold, I have blessed him, and will make 
him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly : twelve 
princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great na- 
tion." We are, I think, to look for a parallel — though 
often by way of contrast — in the histories of the posterity 
of Isaac and Ishmael. Both should inherit a blessing — 
both have a numerous natural seed — twelve patriarchs 
should proceed from each — they should live side by side, 
though in perpetual rivalry. They were both sons, the 
one the legitimate heir, the other a spurious offspring. 
The one should have the true Revelation, the true Reli- 



DESIGN OF MOHAMMEDANISM. 259 

gion, and the true Messiah ; the other a spurious Revela- 
tion, a spurious Religion and a spurious Messiah. The 
blessing on Ishmael was principally of a temporal nature. 
His posterity should be exceedingly numerous. And, as 
a matter of history, it was more numerous than that of 
Isaac. And it should live in perpetual hostility with the 
other great branch of the Abrahamic family. But are 
we not to look for a spiritual blessing on Ishmael, that 
shall correspond with his constituted relationship to Isaac ? 
Was not the religion of the Arabs or Ishmaelites before 
Mohammed, a reflection, a base imitation of Judaism — 
the bastard religion of the promise ? yet containing many 
valuable truths of patriarchal theism. When Israel's 
Messiah appeared, they might have looked that Ishmael's 
Messiah should soon follow. Islamism is then the Chris- 
tianity of Ishmael, and the Popery of Judaism. It is a 
faithful image and reflection, as some one says, of the 
defects of Judaism. In Judaism, Isaac new-modelled and 
improved the faith and morals of men through his literal 
descendants, the Jews ; Ishmael did the same through his 
literal descendants, the Arabs. Mohammedanism, like 
Christianity, on the other line, was an advance, " a con- 
siderable reformation," on the then existing system of 
religion among the spurious seed. One is the light of the 
sun, the other the light of the moon as reflected from the 
sun. 

Again, in permitting this system, God designed effectu- 
ally to check the power and progress of Idolatry, and to 
scourge a corrupt Christianity. The spirit of Mohammed 
was singularly transfused through all the ranks of his fol- 
lowers : it was an implacable hatred of Idolatry. Where- 
ever the Moslem was found, he was the hammer of God 
to break in pieces the idols of the heathen. Nor was he 
a less signal scourge to a corrupt Christianity, or a formal 
Judaism. Islamism has been, in its turn, both the censor 
and the corrector, the scourge and the reformer of eastern 
Christianity. The illegitimate offspring has stolen from 
the armory of the true seed many valuable weapons of 
truth, which he has turned with signal vengeance against 
his brother. Mohammed was a Reformer. He intro- 
duced into Western Asia a better religion than at the 



260 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

time existed there. There was more truth — more of 
divine revelation — less of Idolatry in his religion, than in 
any of the existing forms of faith there prevalent, not 
excepting the Christianity of his time. God rebuked and 
humbled an apostate church, " a fallen star/' by giving 
an enemy rule over her. And another thing he did : by 
the iron arm of Mohammed he has restrained the bloody 
hand of persecution. The blood-hounds of Islam have 
been set to watch the lions of Anti-christ. And well 
have they watched them. And they are not yet forgetful 
of their commission, as late acts of the Turkish govern- 
ment in behalf of the persecuted Armenians doth show. 

The character of Mohammedanism has, perhaps, been 
as imperfectly understood as its design. I do not think 
Mohammed an impostor. He was probably an honest 
man — though ambitious and enthusiastic. His religion, 
(not the abuses and corruptions of it by others,) was to 
him a truth, and an improvement on any system he was 
acquainted with. The Christianity of his time was a 
vile alloy ; Judaism no better, and Paganism worse. He 
set himself to devise and establish a better. He seized 
on the great truths of religion by that " inspiration which 
giveth man understanding" — appropriating what he knew 
of truth in Judaism or Christianity, his great aim being 
to counteract and destroy the Idolatry of his own coun- 
trymen. On this it was a notable advance. It was an 
acknowledgment of one God, of self-denying duty, and 
of future rewards and punishments. To him the whole 
world seemed given up to Idolatry. The absurd and 
false notions on the subject of the Trinity, had laid the 
Christians under the charge of worshiping a plurality 
of Gods, to say nothing of the prevalent worship of 
images, saints and angels. His spirit was stirred within 
him. Hence he became the bold champion of the great 
truth, God is one. 

Mohammed commenced his career under a favorable 
combination of circumstances. The world was provi- 
dentially brought into a condition especially favorable to 
his success. Mohammed looked on the world, with the 
eye of intuitive philosophy. " He compares the nations 
and religions of the earth," says Gibbon, " discovers the 



PERMANENCY OF ISLAMISM. 261 

weakness of the Persian and Roman monarchies, beholds, 
. with pity and indignation, the degeneracy of the times, 
and resolves to unite, under one God and one King, the 
invincible spirit and the primitive virtues of the Arabs." 
The political condition of the world was favorable. The 
leaven of liberty, generated in the religion of calvary, 
had prepared the world for a great revolution. And the 
moral and religious aspect of the world was still more 
favorable. The idolatries of Western Asia were in a 
tottering state. The advent of the Messiah had cast 
light over the whole world. Many dark places had been 
enlightened, and the darkness of other places had been 
made visible. Christianity had reached Arabia, and had 
loosed the bonds of Idolatry, and " produced a fermenta- 
tion there." Both Christianity and Judaism were in a 
condition which afforded a plausible pretext and encour- 
agement to the career of the Prophet. And no doubt, in 
the then extreme military inactivity of Asia, he was not 
a little indebted for his success to the power of arms. 
But are any, or all of these causes sufficient to account 
for such success ? — especially for the permanency of it ? 
Was there not rather a considerable mixture of truth in 
the confused medley of the religion of Mecca, to which 
we are rather to refer certain well known results. It was 
military prowess, for example, that conquered the bar- 
barous, ignorant, besotted Tartars — an exceedingly rude 
people, roaming herds of shepherds and warriors, who 
neither lived in houses nor cultivated the ground. Yet 
their subjugation to Bagdad, wrought in them an extraor- 
dinary transformation. They soon formed for themselves 
a regular government, cultivated their large and fertile 
plains, cherished the arts of peace, and congregated in 
large cities. A new and independent kingdom here arose, 
which soon proved a powerful rival to Bagdad itself. 
What wrought this extraordinary transformation ? Must 
we not look for something beyond mere military force 
and a happy juncture, to account for the power which 
this religion held over mind, and the civil, social and 
moral changes which it wrought ? 

By the mere force of arms the barbarous Moors in- 
vaded Spain, and made themselves possessors of that rich 



262 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

and beautiful portion of Europe. But what enlightened 
and civilized them — what reared for them a regular gov- 
ernment, and a magnificent empire — made them rule in 
the world of letters, and become the teachers of Europe ? 
What made them to excel all the nations of their time, 
in the arts, in science, and in agriculture ? "While the 
greatest portion of the western world was buried in the 
darkest ignorance, the Moors in Spain lived in the enjoy- 
ment of all those arts which beautify and polish society. " 
" Agriculture, too, was better understood by the Arabs of 
Spain than by any other people." When an ambitious 
priesthood were urging their expulsion, the Spanish barons 
plead, "with great power of argument and eloquence, 
that this detested people were the most valuable part of 
the Spanish population." They were characterized by 
" frugality, temperance and industry." The manufactures 
of the country were very much in their hands — the arts, 
sciences and navigation. # 

Or we may ask what gave rise to the college at Bagdad, 
with its six thousand pupils and professors — or made 
Grand Cairo a chief seat of letters, with its twenty col- 
leges, and its royal library of one hundred thousand man- 
uscripts — or what placed a library of two hundred and 
eighty thousand volumes in Cordova, and more than 
seventy libraries in the kingdom of Andalusia — and 
adorned the towns on the north coast of Africa with lit- 
erary institutions ; and made the sun of science rise in 
Africa, and soften the manners of the savage Moors by 
philosophy and song ? The Moors formed the connecting 
link between ancient and modern literature — introduced 
literature and science, into Europe, and were the deposi- 
tories of knowledge for the West. The mathematics, 
astronomy, anatomy, surgery, chemistry, and botany, were 
pursued by the Moors far in advance of their age. Or 
whence came it to pass that Cordova became the " centre 
of politeness, taste and genius ?" A religion which pro- 



* The introduction of cotton, and sugar cane — articles of oriental growth — into Europe 
by the Saracens, first gave that impulse to European art and luxury, and to the spirit, 
consequently, of commercial enterprise, which issued eventually in the opening of a 
maritime communication to India and the remote East, and in the discovery and set- 
tlement of the New World. 



DOCTRINE OF THE DIVINE UNITY. 263 

duces such fruits must have something in it besides error, 
superstition, enthusiasm, and military prowess. 

Mungo Park found, quite in the interior of Africa, a 
degree of elevation and improvement which quite aston- 
ished him ; it was so unlike what he had seen among 
other African tribes — " a people of very different descrip- 
tion from other black Pagan nations/' who had adopted 
many of the arts of civilized life — subjected themselves 
to government and political institutions — practiced agri- 
culture, and learned the necessary and even some of the 
ornamental arts — dwelt in towns, some of which con- 
tained ten thousand and even thirty thousand inhabitants, 
surrounded by well cultivated fields, and the improve- 
ments and comforts of civilized life. All these improve- 
ments had been introduced into Africa by the Mohamme- 
dans. Previous to this introduction, the same tribes were 
as wild, fierce savages as the natives towards the South, 
where the missionaries of Islam had never penetrated. 

A glance at the religion which Mohammed set himself 
to propound, will discover the secret. He started out 
with the great leading truth of the Divine Unity. " He 
proclaimed himself a Prophet sent from heaven to preach 
the unity of the Godhead, and to restore to its purity the 
religion of Abraham and Ishmael." And a principal 
means by which he was to accomplish his mission, was 
the destruction of Idolatry and superstition. The Oriental 
Christian Church at once fell under the ban of his male- 
diction, because found shamefully allied to the great sys- 
tem of Idolatry. 

If we descend to practical results, we shall meet — not 
the religion of the New Testament — but a religion con- 
siderably in advance of any thing which came within the 
Prophet's acquaintance. He essentially mitigated the 
horrors of war. " In avenging my injuries/' said he, 
" molest not the harmless votaries of domestic seclusion ; 
spare the weakness of the softer sex, the infant at the 
breast, and those who, in the course of nature, are hasten- 
ing from this scene of mortality. Abstain from demol- 
ishing the dwellings of the unresisting inhabitants ; destroy 
not their means of subsistence ; respect their fruit trees ; 
and touch not the palm, so useful to the Syrians for its 



264 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

shade, and delightful for its verdure. Take care to do 
that which is right and just, for those who do otherwise, 
shall not prosper. When you make any covenant or ar- 
ticle, stand to it, and be as good as your word. As you 
go on, you will find some religious persons that live retired 
in monasteries, who propose to themselves to serve God 
that way. Let them alone, and neither kill them nor de- 
stroy their monasteries." This was quite in advance of 
his age in reference to war. We must not be too ready 
to charge on Mohammed the abuses of his system, by 
many of his followers, or to forget that, as with other 
men, his impetuous nature sometimes hurried him into 
excesses in practice, which his theory condemned. It is 
not to be denied, that fraud and perfidy, injustice and 
cruelty, were too often made subservient to the propaga- 
tion of his faith ; and that in his last days ambition was 
his ruling passion. 

Again, we find Mohammed inculcating charity, for- 
bearance, patience, resignation to the Divine will ; prayer 
five times a day ; a regard for the sabbath as appointed 
by him ; future rewards and punishment ; mercy to cap- 
tives taken in war ; the prohibition of wine ; that reli 
gion is not in the rite or form, but in the power of an 
internal principle : we find him enacting laws against 
gaming and infanticide ; on inheritance and the rights of 
property ; correcting many grievous abuses, and incul- 
cating many valuable moral precepts. 

He did not enjoin universal charity, but implacable 
hatred of all infidels. This is but of a piece with the 
great design of the system. 

Thus we see what God designed by this religion, and 
what he has brought out of it ; what Mohammed de- 
signed by it ; and what the devil has used it for, viz. as 
a grand delusion by which to blind men's minds, and to 
betray a countless multitude to perdition. Mohamme- 
danism, if contemplated simply as a device of the enemy, 
stands before the world in the character of one of his 
great counterfeits. "It has always been the policy of 
Satan to forestall the purposes of God, and to set up a 
counterfeit of that which the Lord hath declared he will 
do. We may, therefore, regard the religion of the Caaba 



A MINISTER OF PROVIDENCE. 265 

before Mohammed, as Satan's counterfeit of Judaism ; and 
Mohammedanism, or the religion of Mecca, after Mo- 
hammed, as the counterfeit of Christianity. Satan is a 
shrewd observer of providence and of revelation, and he 
advances in his systems of deception with the times, with 
the advance of man, and the condition of the world 
Every new dispensation of grace is, on his part, accom- 
panied by a new dispensation of falsehood, not absolute 
falsehood, but perverted truth and practical falsehood. 
Satan is no inventor but a vile imitator. His systems of 
error are as much like God's systems of truth, as a coun- 
terfeit coin is like a genuine one. The shape, the size, 
the lettering, the whole external, are much the same ; yet 
one is a base alloy, the other is pure gold. Mohamme- 
danism is not a simple counterfeit of Christianity alone 
That bad pre-eminence must be accorded to Popery. It 
is a successful counterfeit both of Christianity and Juda- 
ism, with accommodation in some of its features to the 
mind and the heart of the Pagan. While it incorporates 
in itself much of truth, it incorporates more of worldly 
wisdom and satanic craft. 

But I have already transcended my prescribed limits 
in a review of the past ; we will now turn to the present. 

We have found Mohammedanism to be, on a large 
scale, a minister of Providence to carry forward the 
great plans of human redemption. It has been God's 
hammer, to break in pieces the idols of a large portion of 
the heathen world ; his scourge, to inflict summary and 
severe judgments on an apostate church, and to check 
the vast power she has accumulated by which to perse- 
cute the saints ; and his channel in which, during the 
dark ages, to preserve, and by which to communicate to 
his chosen inheritance, (the spiritual seed of Abraham,) a 
knowledge of the arts and sciences, of literature, and of 
the various means of refinement and civilization. Poor 
Ishmael, though often with an ill grace, and sometimes 
with vengeance in his heart, has all his days been made 
to serve the posterity of Isaac, the seed of promise. 

" O that Ishmael might live before thee." Is there a 
blessing for Ishmael ? As we turn to Mohammedan 
countries we seem to see hope smiling over the black 

23 



266 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

tents of Kedar. Writers well versed in the affairs of 
Islam, who look on Mohammedanism as a corruption of 
Judaism, " an anti-christian heresy," " a confused form of 
Christianity," a " bastard Christianity" as Carlyle calls it, 
think they see a tendency of convergence in Mohamme- 
danism and Christianity ; the " imperfect becoming ab- 
sorbed in the perfect; the moon of Mohammedanism 
resigning its borrowed rays to meet in the undivided 
light of the everlasting gospel/' the Sun of Righteousness.* 
Is there any thing in the present condition of Mohamme- 
danism to indicate such a convergence ? A brief survey 
of Islamism, physically, politically, and morally, as now 
to be seen, may throw some light on this question. 

We have seen the Mohammedan empire stretching 
over the fairest portions of the globe, from the Chinese 
sea to the walls of Vienna and the gates of Rome, and its 
proud waves stayed only by the broad Atlantic. The 
earth once trembled before the throne of the haughty 
Moslems, " till princes were ambitious of its alliance." 
Such Moslems as Ghengis Khan, Tamerlane, and the 
great Moguls in the East, and Abbasides of Western 
Asia, and the Ommiades of Spain, have ruled the world 
with a rod of iron. Even as late as the close of the last 
century the authority of the divan of Constantinople was 
generally respected. But where is the political power 
of Islam now? It is numbered among the things that 
were. Except in Turkey, we search for it almost in 
vain. And we shall soon see how little of power the 
Moslems possess even in Turkey. 

Though the religion of Mohammed embraces in it 
some truth, to which we are to attribute much of the 
power and permanency which it has enjoyed ; yet we 
must bear in mind it is characteristically a religion of the 
sword. As a distinctive system it exists by force. Yet 
when once forced on a community, or a nation, and al- 
lowed to develop itself, it has, with much error, brought 
forth some good fruit. But " all they that take the sword, 
shall perish with the sword," shall perish with the laying 
down of the sword. We need not apprehend that the 

* Foster's Mohammedanism Unveiled. 



PRESENT CONDITION OF ISLAMISM. 26 r 

religion of the Koran shall outlive the civil and military 
power of the Moslems. But what is the condition of this 
power at the present time ? For an answer to this ques- 
tion, we must look to Constantinople and the Turkish 
empire. 

Writing from the East, one says : " A deplorable 
anarchy prevails in Turkey. The European powers 
thought to strengthen the Ottoman empire by an armed 
interference in her internal quarrels, but they have only 
added fuel to the flame. Turkey is in the agonies of dis- 
solution, and will soon be a corpse. There is no law, no 
safety, no security for property in this unhappy country. 
Is not this a sign that the last hour is coming for the fol- 
lowers of Mohammed ?" Before Napoleon Bonaparte 
had inflicted the incurable wound on Rome, or exerted 
his dread commission in heaven's retributive justice on 
Austria, Russia and Prussia, for their wrongs on poor 
Poland, he had already aimed as deadly a thrust at the 
Sublime Porte; and but for the interference, in either 
case, of Protestant England, he would, in all human 
probability, have totally demolished the monstrous fabrics 
both of Popery and Islamism. By his expedition and 
success in Egypt, he not only himself struck a heavy blow 
on Turkish power, but he revealed to the whole political 
world the weakness of the Turkish empire. Hordes of 
Turks, Arabs, and Mamelukes, were seen to be no match 
for an European soldiery. Turkey has since lain a prey 
at the feet of Christian nations, to be seized the moment 
the victors can agree on the division of the spoil. Her 
people are demoralized; her institutions and opinions an- 
tiquated ; her army without discipline or bravery ; her 
government superannuated and without authority ; a 
nation with no homogeneity, or moral and political cohe- 
sion ; without manufactures or commerce, with little 
money, and less justice in her rulers, or security for her 
people ; that is to say, all the vital parts of society are 
struck with death.* 

And so she remains, with no inherent power of her 
own by which to restore herself, or to preserve herself as 

* Correspondence of the New York Observer. 



268 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

she is, but only propped up by the jealousy of European 
nations. Strenuous attempts have been made of late 
years to reinstate the decayed energies of the Moslems. 
She remains but the shadow of what she was, " a sad 
spectacle of inevitable dissolution." We need only take 
the most cursory survey of Mohammedan countries as 
they now are, and the conclusion will be forced upon us 
that the power of Islam is on the wane. Many of its 
empires, celebrated in the history of past times, have 
already become Christian, or are subjected to Christian 
powers. The empire of the great Moguls is no more. 
Persia has little either of power or independence. Like 
Turkey, she only exists by sufferance. Afghanistan has 
been terrified and humbled. Algiers is subjected to a 
Christian nation. " Greece, awaking from her long stu- 
por, uttered the cry of liberty, in the name of glorious 
ancestors, and a heroic struggle achieved her independ- 
ence." The right arm of Turkey was palsied at the 
battle of Navarino. Already there is not a Moslem power 
that can stand of itself. 

But political power to Mohammedanism is essential to 
its existence ; empire and territorial extension, essential 
parts of the promise to Ishmael ; and as we see these 
passing away, we may receive it as an undoubted omen 
that the religion of the Moslems is drawing near its end. 
" The great obstacle," says an intelligent missionary, " to 
the conversion of the Mohammedans, is their power, and 
their pride of power, but the fact that their power is pass- 
ing away, has produced a great change among them." 
Infidelity cannot compare the present condition of Mo- 
hammedanism with the past, without recognizing the 
hand of God in the change. 

Nor will the same providential feature appear less dis- 
tinct in a religious survey of the system. The moral 
power of Islam is as effectually weakened or annihilated 
as its political power. " Immorality," says one, " has 
awfully increased among the Mohammedans of Asiatic 
Turkey ;" and others speak of the " decline of Moham- 
medanism in spirit and zeal;" "enthusiasm gone;" "fasts 
unobserved, and the prescribed prayers and the ritual 
neglected." The power and spirit have well nigh de- 



DOWNFALL OF MOHAMMEDAN POWER. 269 

parted, and nothing remains but the death-stricken body, 
ready to crumble to decay. And in correspondence with 
all this, we meet a physical wasting away of the once 
gigantic power of the Moslems. " Depopulation" says a 
correspondent from that quarter, " has been going on 
rapidly during the year 1838, the plague, small-pox, and 
other diseases, carried off in one province most of the 
children under two years old." In another district 
" where three hundred yoke of oxen used to be employed, 
the ground is now tilled with twelve. The country is 
drained of its inhabitants, too, by the frequent draughts 
of young men to serve in the army. There is every in- 
dication that the strength of the empire is gone. The 
waters of the great Euphrates are drying up." 

" And power was given unto him to continue forty and 
two months" 1260 years; which period has almost ex- 
pired. The Rev. Dr. Grant, whose authority in this 
matter we may quote with much confidence, speaks thus 
of the approaching end of the great Eastern Anti-christ : 
"In Persia it is commonly believed that the existing 
Mohammedan power is near its end. Calculations have 
been made by one of their seers, which lead them to be- 
lieve that its days are numbered, and limited to a very 
few remaining years. In Turkey, in Mesopotamia, and 
even among the wild mountains of central Koordistan, 
where the subject was gravely canvassed, I found a pre- 
vailing impression that the arm of the Mohammedan 
power is soon to be broken ; and such, too, is the general 
belief among the Moslems of Egypt and Syria. More- 
over, such is the posture of things in the East, and such 
the increasing developments of Providence, that a general 
expectation of the speedy downfall of the empire of Mo- 
hammed prevails throughout Christendom ; while those 
of us who have resided within the borders of that empire, 
have been sensibly impressed with the fact that we were 
the tenants of a falling edifice. 

" A missionary, long resident in the metropolis of 
Turkey, remarked, that 'it requires no prophecies to 
satisfy us that the Mohammedan power is falling to ruins, 
and must soon be at an end/ The astonishing changes 
now taking place portend its overthrow. The Moslem 

23* 



270 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

feels that ' fate' has so decreed it; and the Christian may 
here learn that the Almighty has set bounds to its dura- 
tion, and that its days are fast hastening to a close/' 

But Mohammedan countries present another aspect. 
Certain encouraging features pleasantly contrast with 
the foregoing. While the waters of the great Euphrates 
are gradually drying up, while the gigantic structure of 
Islam is falling to decay, there is springing up amidst its 
ruins a more sightly edifice. 

The late toleration act of the Sublime Porte, is but of 
a piece with the past history of Mohammedanism. 
Though the power of the Moslems is broken, their de- 
caying energies are roused to resist the persecuting spirit 
of Anti-christ when found in the Roman, Greek, or Ar- 
menian church. In the late persecutions by the Armenian 
Patriarch, the Turks, as usual, espoused the cause of 
evangelical Christianity, and raised the governmental 
arm to arrest the madness of the persecutors. It was 
the arm of Providence. True to its character, Moham- 
medanism is again a scourge and a judgment on a cor- 
rupt Christianity, and a shield against anti-christian per- 
secutors. Had not the sword of the crescent been drawn, 
where, in other times, would the ravages of the Beast and 
the Dragon have been stayed ? The mere chronicler of 
events asks why the Turks, in 1453, were permitted to 
take and hold Constantinople, and with such iron severity 
to hold control over the Eastern church ? The Christian 
historian replies : " This very circumstance arrested the 
perversion of the truth by a corrupt church, and wrested 
from the hands of persecutors the sword of violence. 
The Moslems were the watch-dogs of Providence, to 
protect the flock and to control the wolf. Nothing short 
of the relentless arm and the iron sinews of the Turk, 
could arrest the maddening progress of the Beast. In the 
late Armenian persecution, we again see the stern Mos- 
lem interposing the shield against the fiery darts of Anti- 
christ. 

And here we have to note another agency, which has 
been made, providentially, to produce the same result. I 
mean the movements of England and Prussia to secure 
the toleration of Protestant Christianity, and to resist the 



TURKISH REFORMS. 271 

political influence of Russia through the Greek church, 
and France through the Romish. Without this providen- 
tial interposition, the palsied arm of Turkey would prob- 
ably prove too weak to resist the unceasing encroach- 
ments of the Beast. 

Indeed, throughout their whole history, the Moslems 
have been true to themselves and to the divine commis- 
sion which they seem destined to fulfill, to check and 
scourge Anti-christ. In Spain, the oppressed and outraged 
Jew hailed in secret the approach of the invading Sara- 
cens, regarded them as deliverers, and openly co-operated 
with them in attacking their Christian enemies. And 
good reason had they to rejoice at their deliverance from 
Gothic tyranny, as they " lived in peace and plenty under 
the milder rule of their new masters." Historians speak of 
the " brilliant age of the kingdoms of Cordova and Grenada 
as a cheering light amidst the darkness and ignorance 
which Europe then presented" — of " their liberal tolera- 
tion granted to all religious sects" — " a wise and benefi- 
cent policy long characterized the Moors, and deservedly 
raised their dominions to a great height of prosperity." 

To the Jews, says Milman, "the Moslem crescent 
was as a star which seemed to soothe to peace the trou- 
bled waters on which they had been so long agitated. 
Throughout the dominions of the Caliphs of the East, in 
Africa, in Spain and in the Byzantine empire, we behold 
the Jews not only pursuing their lucrative and enter- 
prising traffick, not merely merchants of splendor and op- 
ulence, but suddenly emerging to offices of dignity and 
trust, administering the finances of Christian and Moham- 
medan kingdoms, and traveling as embassadors between 
mighty sovereigns. 

Another feature which characterizes the Moslems of 
the present day, especially the Turks, is a struggling spirit 
of reform. The present Sultan, like his immediate prede- 
cessor, has been at much pains to cultivate an acquaint- 
ance with the West, and to introduce European improve- 
ments, and to encourage European skill. He has effected 
man}' useful reforms. And the present Grand Vizier is 
a libeial and a well educated man, acquainted with Euro- 
pean civilization, having been embassador to Paris and 



272 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

London. He is laboring, and not without success, to 
modify the laws, and to correct the manners of the Turks. 
Not long since, we heard of the Sultan presiding in per- 
son at a meeting of his council, and himself proposing the 
abolition of the slave trade in his dominions ; a measure 
which has since been carried into effect. 

Innovations of the most encouraging character are 
daily becoming more and more rife among the Turks, 
showing a delightful progress of civilized and liberal ideas 
among the leading minds of the nation, which cannot but 
meet a response, sooner or later, in the popular mind. Mo- 
nopolies are abolished ; internal improvements made ; re 
strictions removed ; a regular system of taxation to take 
the place of a miserable and oppressive mode of " farm- 
ing" out a town or province for a fixed sum. But the in- 
novation of the mightiest magnitude, the one which has 
perhaps done most to break up the stagnations of Turkish 
orientalism, is the introduction of steam navigation. This 
has opened a new chapter to the sluggish mind of the East, 
and portends a revolution, moral, political, social and in- 
tellectual, of vast interest to the Christian philanthropist. 
New elements of improvement are now set to work. Fa- 
cilities of intercourse and communication are increased 
an hundred fold — mind is brought in contact with mind. 
Activity and enterprise in business are promoted — punc- 
tuality enforced, and a complete revolution effected on 
the stereotyped habits of centuries. The whole is told in 
a word, in the felicitous style of the Rev. Mr. Goodell, of 
Constantinople : " The Turks have been squatted down 
here for ages, smoking their pipes with all gravity, and 
reading the Koran, without being once disturbed. When, 
lo ! a steamer dashes right in among them, and they have 
to scramble out of the way." 

It is, too, quite a new feature in those lands, which have 
been left to pine so long under the pale light of the cres- 
cent, and one indicating the hand of God at work for their 
redemption, that the Press has at length become no in- 
considerable part of the machinery of modern society 
there. A large imperial printing establishment exists in 
Constantinople — "new presses are daily set up in the 
principal towns of the empire, and all desirable facilities 



PLEASING REFLECTION. 273 

granted to writers and journalists." A large number of 
periodical works and journals are published in the Otto- 
man empire, among which we find the Ottoman Moniteur 
or State Gazette, by a Frenchman, at the capital. All 
sorts of books are distributed through the empire without 
obstruction ; and reading-rooms are established in some 
of the principal towns, supplied with all works of impor- 
tance from France, Germany and England. Books of 
travels are written and published by Turkish functiona- 
ries who have resided in Europe ; relating to their coun- 
trymen the w r ondrous achievements of science and civ- 
ilization, and showing* the Turks how far they are behind 
Christian nations. 

A complete change has, within a few years, been ef- 
fected in Turkey, with regard to the periodical press and 
books. But a short time since, printing was not known 
there ; now it is in great honor. This is an advanced 
step in that long stagnant empire, presaging a no distant 
change. With the Sultan at the head of those who wish 
reform, Turkey is " making prodigious efforts to escape 
from a state of ignorance and degradation." 

We may therefore conclude this chapter with the very 
pleasant reflection, that the countries occupied by the 
spiritual seed of the Ishmaelitish branch of the Abrahamic 
family, are, as never before, providentially prepared to 
receive the message of the true Prophet, and to act as co- 
workers with the spiritual seed of Abraham through the 
Heir of Promise, in the defence and spread of the truth. 
Already the " crescent is protecting the cross" — the state 
is throwing its arms around the Armenian converts, and 
saves them from the fury of their persecutors. And, 
what is beautifully illustrative of the rich beneficence of 
Providence, while the Turks have been protecting the 
persecuted Armenians, they have themselves been brought 
intimately and effectually in contact with the truth. The 
late persecution of the evangelical Armenians has pre- 
sented the truth to the Turkish mind in a more tangible, 
visible, impressive form than all the preaching of the last 
century. In the victims of persecution, who have been 
brought before their tribunals, or been met in private or 
social life, the Turks have seen living illustrations of the 



274 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

power of gospel truth, both in sustaining them in the fur- 
nace of affliction, and in transforming their characters. 
u Witnessing their excellent lives, and hearing them ex- 
plain the true nature of the gospel, the Turks are begin- 
ning now to feel that they never before had any correct 
idea of what constitutes real Christianity." The speci- 
mens heretofore before them neither gave any right idea 
of what Bible Christianity is, or held out any inducement 
to the Turk to change his religion. For the Turks, gen- 
erally speaking, are, (and always have been,) a better 
people, more honest, more virtuous than any nominally 
Christian people dispersed among them. 

Providence has at length furnished the Turks with ster- 
ling examples of Christian character, and of the trans- 
forming power of Christianity — living epistles, read and 
known of all men. 



CHAPTER XV. 

Hand op God in the Turkish Empire. The Turkish Government and Christianity. 
Mr. Dwight's communication. Change of the last fifty years. Destruction of tho 
Janizaries. Greek Revolution. Reform. Death of Mahmoud. The Charter of 
Gul Khaneh. Religious Liberty. Persecution arrested. Steam Navigation in 
Turkey. Providential incidents. Protestant Governments and Turkey. Their pres- 
ent Embassadors. Foreign Protestant Residents. Late exemption from the plague. 

It will not be void of interest, we trust, to notice here 
a little more particularly some of the providential move- 
ments which have brought Mohammedan countries, es- 
pecially the Turkish Empire, into their present interesting 
position. It is but a few years since we could see nothing 
in the Turkish empire but an iron despotism, and nothing 
in the Turks' religion but a savage intolerance. Late ac- 
counts from that quarter have quite astonished us — they 
seem almost incredible ; and would have been quite incredi- 
ble in any age but ours. Says Dr. Baird, " the Turkish 



TURKISH GOVERNMENT AND CHRISTIANITY. 275 

Government now favors the spread of the gospel. The 
Pacha of Egypt and the Sultan of Turkey are disposed to 
protect missionaries, and the time is at hand when Mus- 
sulmen may, with entire impunity, embrace the gospel." 
Indeed, such is the construction put on the late act of 
"toleration, that such a time seems fully to have come. 
No Moslem may now be molested on account of rejecting 
Mohammed. "The people of Turkey/' says another, 
" are in a wonderful state of preparation for the preach- 
ing to them of a pure gospel." And adds the Rev. G. 
W. Wood, of Constantinople : " It is probably no exag- 
geration to say that within a year past (1846) more 
knowledge of the true gospel has been spread among the 
Turks than all which they had previously obtained since 
they first crossed the Euphrates." 

Such a result is to be attributed very much to the late 
progress of Christianity among the Armenians of the 
Turkish empire, and to the recent persecutions among 
them. Never before has a pure gospel been preached in 
Turkey so extensively, and certainly have the Turks 
never before had the excellencies of Christianity so viv- 
idly and favorably illustrated before them. The^evangel- 
ical preaching, and liberal teachings of the missionaries, 
have of themselves conveyed throughout the whole com- 
munity an immense amount of Scripture truth ; and, be- 
sides, have provoked to jealousy many a priest and bishop 
to go and do likewise. Hence, gospel truth has been 
made, in a great degree, to pervade the Turkish nation. 

Such changes are attracting the attention of the ob- 
servers of human affairs. The most unbelieving philoso- 
pher will surely be moved to inquire into the reasons of 
so unwonted and unexpected changes, and will be nothing 
loth to trace out the steps, as far as he may, by which so 
great and pleasing a revolution has been brought about. 
To aid him in such researches is the design of this chapter. 

The writer would here thankfully acknowledge his in- 
debtedness to the Rev. H. G. O. Dwight, of Constantino- 
ple, for interesting facts found in this chapter, illustrating 
our general subject. Nor will he be careful to give him 
credit by quotation marks for his excellent and much 
valued communication, cheerfully yielding to so valued a 



276 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

friend and excellent missionary, all that is of any ap- 
preciable worth in the chapter. For the last eighteen or 
twenty years Mr. Dwight has been a close and discrim- 
inating observer of the hand of God in the Turkish em- 
pire. He has observed with the eye of a Christian 
philosopher, a philosophic historian, and a zealous, able," 
judicious, hoping missionary. He has, as the following 
paragraphs show, carefully watched the progressive steps 
of Providence as He has been preparing that hitherto 
unpropitious soil to receive the good seed of the word. 

In a note accompanying his communication, Mr. 
Dwight says : " You have given me a mighty subject, and 
I feel wholly incompetent to the task of properly present- 
ing it. After having tried to summon all the powers of 
my mind, (and also the aid of my brethren here,) to this 
deeply interesting investigation, I am sure I have said 
very little of what might be said, and what will be un- 
folded in eternity to the wondering minds of God's people, 
of all his providential interpositions in behalf of his 
church here. I pray that the Lord will pardon me that, 
in my weakness, I have made so imperfect and unworthy 
a record of his doings around us, and that he will grant 
unto me, and to all his people, more and more of his 
divine aid to enable us to see more clearly his stately 
footsteps among the children of men. Let us remember 
that we have to do with One who openeth and no man 
shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth. According 
to my opinion, God is omnipotent in his works of Provi- 
dence, as he was in the w T ork of creation." 

To introduce the gospel into Turkey fifty years ago, 
would have been an enterprise fraught with difficulties 
and dangers. Evangelical labors among the Moham- 
medans, would have been, (as perhaps they are still,) en 
tirel}' out of the question. No Turk could have embraced 
the Christian religion, without losing his head, and the 
missionary who should have appeared in Turkey for the 
avowed purpose of converting the Mohammedans to 
Christianity, in those times of the Janizaries, would 
probably have shared a similar fate. At any rate, his 
presence would not have been tolerated in the country 
for an hour. If he had come to labor only among the 



DESTRUCTION OF THE JANIZARIES. 277 

nominally Christian sects, he might not so soon have at- 
tracted towards him the attention of the Government, 
but his situation in the country would have been preca- 
rious, just in proportion to his success. The Patriarchs 
of the different Christian communities were then permit- 
ted to exercise a very arbitrary and tyrannical power 
over their own people. They could flog, imprison, and 
exile whom they liked, by the aid and consent of the 
Turkish Government, without being required to establish 
by evidence, any definite charge against the individual. 
In this way, even as late as the year 1828, the Arme- 
nian Patriarch procured the banishment of several thou- 
sands of his subjects, (many of them rich and influential,) 
and their property was confiscated, on a most frivolous 
pretense, — their only crime being that they were Catho- 
lics, and did not, of course, symbolize with the Armenian 
church in their religious views. 

The destruction of the Janizaries must be considered 
as among the most important providential first-steps to- 
wards breaking up this ancient system, and opening the 
way for missionary efforts. It was, in fact, the death- 
blow to the power of the Ottoman empire, although not 
seen to be such by him who inflicted it. From that mo- 
ment the Turkish government has been growing weaker 
and weaker, and its only hope of a renewal of its former 
strength, is an entire abolishment of the old despotic sys- 
tem, and the establishment of just and righteous laws, 
securing to all its subjects their proper civil and religious 
rights. 

Of course, with the downfall of despotic power in the 
civil government, the downfall of ecclesiastical power 
derived from that government, is necessarily involved. 

The revolution and independence of Greece is another 
great event in the history of the Turkish empire, which 
has been made, providentially, to work so as to favor 
the introduction of the gospel into the country. What- 
ever has contributed to weaken the original Turkish sys- 
tem, and render this government dependent on the great 
nations of Europe, must be considered as a providential 
instrumentality employed by the great Head of the 
Church, to prepare for the coming of his kingdom. Of 

24 



278 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

course, the quasi independence of Egypt, and the frequent 
disturbances in Syria, and in other parts of the country, 
must be classed under this head. 

Whatever providential circumstances of this sort com- 
pel the Turks to throw themselves upon their European 
allies for assistance or protection, or encourage those 
allies in officiously volunteering such assistance, must 
always tend to place Turkey more and more under the 
influence of the European powers ; so that England, 
France and Russia, have now come to have a sort of 
right to interfere in the internal regulations of this coun- 
try, and the administration of its government. And, al- 
though these foreign powers sometimes pull in opposite 
directions, yet, on the whole, their influence is to advance 
civilization, and establish just and righteous laws, and 
religious toleration. 

Since the overthrow of the Janizaries, reform has 
been the order of the day in Turkey ; and, although the 
woi-k has proceeded slowly, yet no one can deny that a 
steady progress has been made. Sultan Mahmoud pos- 
sessed a clear, liberal, and independent mind, and he 
marched on, prudently and steadily, from step to step, in 
his efforts to establish the regeneration of his country : 
and before his death he had the satisfaction of seeing im- 
portant changes introduced. He seems to have been 
especially raised up and qualified for the age and country 
in which he lived, and the high and arduous work to 
which he was called. The man of faith, who sees God's 
finger in every event that transpires in this world, most 
readily ascribes to God's special providence the raising 
up of such a sovereign as Mahmoud, at such a time. All 
his reforms, though such an effect was probably farthest 
possible from his thoughts, tended in a most remarkable 
manner, to prepare the way for the coming of Christ's 
kingdom in this land. The peculiar juncture at which 
he died, must also attract the attention of a believer in 
Providence. 

Some Armenians of rank, who were exceedingly hos- 
tile to the spread of evangelical sentiments in their com- 
munity, in the year 1839, through a combination of cir- 
cumstances, gained direct access to the ear of Mahmoud, 



DEATH OF MAHMOUD. 279 

(a very unusual privilege,) and by misrepresentations, 
procured his active hostility against those of his subjects 
who had embraced the evangelical religion. He was in- 
duced to put forth his mighty power to persecute the true 
followers of Christ, and several were banished, and others 
were sorely threatened, and it was determined to make 
the most vigorous efforts to remove the missionaries from 
the country. When the persecution was at its height, 
and the enemies of God seemed to have every thing in 
their own way, and there were many fears that the gar- 
den of the Lord would be completely overrun and devas- 
tated by the destroyer, the great Mahmoud suddenly 
died, and with him, for the time being, passed away all 
the power of the persecutors to do further injury. 

One of those who suffered banishment during this per- 
secution, was Mr. Hohannes, now in America. He was 
then the leading man among the evangelical Armenians 
of Constantinople, and he was kept in exile a year after 
the Sultan's death ; and it was the declared intention of 
his enemies, that this banishment should be perpetual. 
And they would probably have accomplished their pur- 
pose, had not God, in his providence, raised up for him a 
deliverer, just in the time of need. A humane and 
friendly English medical man was appointed one of the 
physicians of the Sultan's palace, and this situation ena- 
bled him to speak a good word for the exile, which pro- 
cured his restoration. 

The changes that have taken place since the present 
Sultan came upon the throne, indicating a providential 
preparation for the coming of the kingdom of Christ in 
this land, are still more marked than during the previous 
reign. Soon after Abdul Medjid succeeded his father, 
the famous Charter of Gul Khaneh (so called,) was 
granted to the people, in the presence of all the foreign 
embassadors. This was the more remarkable, since it 
was not only not called for by the people, but such were 
the prejudices in favor of the old system, that the new 
must be introduced with the greatest prudence and cau- 
tion. The world then witnessed the extraordinary spec- 
tacle of a despotic monarch, of his own accord, granting 
political rights and privileges to a people so wholly un- 



280 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

prepared for them, as to render the very offer of them 
dangerous to the peace of the community. The funda- 
mental principle of this charter was, that the liberty, prop- 
erty, and honor of every individual in the community, 
without reference to religious sentiments, should be 
sacredly guarded. No one was to be condemned, in any 
case, without an impartial trial ; and no one was to suffer 
the extreme penalty of the law, without the sanction ol 
the Sultan. Here was a marked providential preparation 
for the protection of God's people in time of persecution. 
To the principles of this charter appeals have since been 
made, by suffering Protestants, hundreds of times, and 
under its cover they have been protected ; while, under 
the former system, there would have been no help for 
them. 

But by far the most important innovation upon Turk- 
ish law and custom, as affecting directly the kingdom of 
Christ, is that which was effected chiefly through the in- 
tervention of His Excellency Sir Stratford Canning ; 
namely, the abolition of the odious law requiring the de- 
capitation of backsliding Mussulmans. The whole his- 
tory of this movement is interesting in the extreme, and 
opens one of the most instructive pages in the wonderful 
book of God's providence. An Armenian young man, of 
obscure family, and of no personal importance, was un- 
derstood to have become a Mussulman. This is an event 
of not unfrequent occurrence in Turkey. The individual 
in question, before being formally initiated into the 
Turkish faith, repented of his folly, and made his escape 
to a neighboring kingdom. After an absence of a year 
or two, he returned, supposing that there would be no 
further search for him. He was soon recognized, how- 
ever, and apprehended, and sentenced to death, according 
to Mohammedan law. The British Embassador now 
stepped in, and interceded for his life. The promise was 
given by the Turkish Government that the young man 
should not be executed. Turkish fanaticism, however, 
prevailed, and the renegade was publicly beheaded. And 
furthermore, a few days after, a renegade Greek was also 
beheaded, in a village near Broosa. These acts of the 
Porte being in direct violation of its promise, and par- 



RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 281 

ticularly the second execution, so closely upon the first, 
very naturally had the effect to render the honorable rep- 
resentative of the British Government more decided and 
peremptory in his demands. Sir Statford could, of 
course, do nothing further for the individual whose case 
had been the particular cause of his remonstrances, but 
he demanded, and procured from the Sultan, a written 
pledge, that from henceforth, no Christian, becoming a 
Mussulman, and returning to his former religion, shall be 
put to death in the Turkish dominions. The French 
Embassador united with the English in making this de- 
mand, and both were strongly backed up by their re- 
spective governments. The Russian Minister ultimately 
joined the other two. It was said by some, that the fact 
of the second person executed being a Greek, was the 
means of calling the Russian Government into action. 
The ground assumed by these European powers was, 
that such executions were a public reproach cast upon 
the Christian religion, which is the religion of Europe. 

The promise of the Sultan has since been interpreted 
by the British Embassador, and the interpretation has, 
again and again, been admitted by the Porte, that no 
religious persecution, of whatever kind, is to be allowed 
in the Turkish empire. This was, in fact, the precise 
wording of the verbal promise given by the Sultan to the 
Embassador, though the written pledge was somewhat 
more restricted in its terms. This new principle, thus 
introduced, has been successfully appealed to, in number- 
less instances, by the Protestant Armenians, under the 
persecutions brought upon them by their ecclesiastics. 
They would, no doubt, have been banished, and even, in 
some instances, put to death, under the old Turkish sys- 
tem. It seems as if God, in his providence, permitted 
the Turkish Government to take the fatal step they did, 
in regard to that Armenian renegade, in order to call the 
attention of European governments strongly to the sub- 
ject, and lead them to procure from the Sultan such a 
pledge against religious persecution, just at that time, 
when the wrath of the Armenian ecclesiastics was about 
to be roused up against the true followers of Christ 
among their flocks ; whom they " would have swallowed 

24* 



282 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

up quick,*' if they had had the same power as formerly. 
The British Minister himself has been heard to express 
his admiration at the providence of God in this thing, and 
to declare that it was God alone who forced this conces- 
sion from the Turks. 

The weakness of the Turkish Government, dependent, 
as it is, for its very existence, on the favor and support 
of the great European powers, is thus a prominent cause 
(ordered and arranged by Providence) of protection and 
defence to the infant churches of God, in this land. And 
it should be particularly remarked, as a most striking 
illustration of that sacred saying, that " The Lord of 
Hosts is wonderful in counsel ;" that, through a sort of 
political necessity, not only France, but even Russia, was 
constrained to join hands with England, in compelling 
the Turks, in the instance referred to, to admit the prin- 
ciple of religious liberty into their country. 

It is also a striking providential fact, which could not 
have been fifty years ago, that the only two French 
newspapers published in Constantinople, which are under 
the protection of the Turkish Government, now come 
out, openly and avowedly, in favor of religious liberty ; 
and they have repeatedly urged the point in the clearest 
terms, that all civil and political power should be taken 
from the ecclesiastics, and they be compelled to confine 
themselves solely to their ecclesiastical functions. 

Among the providences of God in so timing things as 
to meet the circumstances of his people, and favor the 
progress of the gospel in this land, should be mentioned 
the following facts. More than once, in the infancy of 
the reformation in Turkey, when the ecclesiastical 
powers were ready to persecute, cruelly, the few who 
had renounced the errors of their church, quarrels have 
sprung up in the midst of the Armenian community it- 
self, which have completely diverted attention from the 
Protestants, and, for a time, stayed the arm of the perse- 
cutor. Sometimes, the quarrel has been about the 
Patriarch, and once, at least, it originated in a spirit of 
jealousy between the bankers and tradesmen ; and thus 
while, for years, nearly the whole attention of the eccle- 
siastics and chief men of the nation, was absorbed in 



PERSECUTION ARRESTED. 283 

these internal disputes, the work of God was quietly and 
constantly gaining ground among the people. At length, 
these internal troubles were quieted by the election to 
the patriarchal office, of an obscure old bishop, whose 
chief recommendation was, that he was a man whom no 
party cared to claim, and consequently, the only one 
upon whom they could unite. He held his office much 
longer than was anticipated, and he was a man of so 
eccentric a character — bordering on insanity — that al- 
most no one dared to approach him ; for no one could 
possibly divine, beforehand, how he would receive any 
proposition, or, whether a petition presented would be for 
the honor or disgrace of him who offered it. During his 
administration of two or more years, evangelical senti- 
ments gained a firm foothold in the country ; and, although 
there were many and powerful enemies of the truth, who 
were ready to use all their influence to root it out, yet 
the peculiar character of their Patriarch discouraged 
every attempt at a combined effort against the Protes- 
tants. 

Thus the great persecution, which burst upon the 
heads of the devoted servants of God in Turkey, early in 
the year 1846, was stayed, by a series of peculiar provi- 
dences, until the evangelical party was sufficiently en- 
larged and strengthened, and the principle of religious 
liberty was introduced and acknowledged by the Turkish 
Government, as has been related. At the beginning of 
his attempts to persecute, the Armenian Patriarch sent 
to the Porte the names of thirteen individuals whom he 
considered the leaders among the Protestants, with the 
request that they might be banished. Formerly, such re- 
quests were granted with the greatest readiness, but now, 
the astonished Patriarch received for answer, that hence- 
forth no one could be persecuted for religious opinions in 
Turkey. 

Another striking mark of the special providence of 
God in this movement, is the fact, that just before the 
persecution commenced, a change of ministry took place 
in Turkey ; and an anti-liberal and anti-English cabinet 
was exchanged for one composed of the most intelligent 
and large-minded men in the country. This cabinet 



234 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

still remains unchanged. The Grand Vizier, who is the 
leader of it, has long stood at the head of the reforming 
party in Turkey, and he is thoroughly opposed to all 
fanaticism and bigotry ; and the Minister of Foreign 
Affairs, who, by a singular coincidence, is also the Minis- 
ter of Religion, is a man of like spirit. Both of them 
have resided in England, and other parts of Europe. 

Under the same general head with the foregoing, that 
is, the providential adaptation of things to meet the 
wants of the church, the opening of steam navigation in 
this country should be mentioned. When the first mis- 
sionaries came here from America, not a steamboat was 
established on any of these waters. The first missionary 
stations occupied in Turkey, (north of Syria,) were at 
Smyrna and Constantinople. Owing to the current in 
the Dardanelles, the upward passage of sailing vessels, 
from Smyrna to Constantinople, was frequently thirty days. 
This was a serious hindrance to our communications, and 
especially to the transmission of the products of our press. 
The first steam communication established in the country, 
w 7 as between these two cities. Our next missionary sta- 
tions were at Broosa and Trebizond, and in a short time 
lines of steamers were placed upon these routes ; and, 
although many predicted that they would not succeed, 
they have become exceedingly profitable concerns. The 
line to Trebizond also connects us very directly with 
our Oroomiah brethren. At Nicomedia and Ada Bazar, 
although we have no missionaries stationed there, yet the 
work of God has been such as to render frequent and 
easy communication desirable ; and, behold, a line of 
steamers is placed there also, as if for the very purpose ! 
Another line has, for some time past, connected Constan- 
tinople and Smyrna with Beyroot. In every instance the 
missionary has gone first, and after a necessity has been 
created for frequent communication, for the purpose of 
forwarding the Lord's work, a line of steamers has been 
established! The men of the world would no doubt 
smile at the intimation that there w T as a particular provi- 
dence in these arrangements, and I would that there* 
were more such faith in the world for them to smile at. 
It is no doubt true, that those who have brought forward 



PROVIDENTIAL INCIDENTS. 285 

these enterprises thought only of their own advantage, 
or of some other mere worldly end ; and it never came 
into their minds that they were doing any thing to meet 
the wants of the kingdom of Christ in this world, or to 
fulfill his purposes. " They meant it not so, neither did 
their hearts think so/' and yet the believer in God's 
providence, who knows that "God worketh all things 
after the counsel of his own will," and that worldly 
men, and even wicked men, are often his tools in carry- 
ing forward the purposes of his kingdom, cannot fail to 
trace all these arrangements directly to the intervention 
of God, who was thus providing facilities for his servants 
to spread far and wide the news of salvation. Within 
the same period of time, also, have those more extensive 
steam routes been opened, by which missionaries, and 
friends of the missionary cause, throughout the four quar- 
ters of the globe, are now enabled, with great frequency 
and certainty, to communicate with each other. 

I will close this communication with the statement of 
several facts, illustrating the providence of God in taking 
care of his people in this land, leaving it with you to ar- 
range these facts as best suits your purpose. 

In the year 1845, a young Armenian, in the village of 
Kurdbeleng, who was led to receive the Scriptures as 
his only guide, was cruelly beaten, at the instigation of 
the head priest of the church, and by order of the chief 
ruler in the Armenian community of that place. The 
priest and ruler were both present on the occasion, and 
they procured a Turkish police officer to inflict the 
punishment, giving him rum to drink that he might lay 
on the blows with a more unmerciful hand. The poor 
man suffered dreadfully, having been beaten with a heavy 
stick, and immediately after he was compelled to leave 
his shop, his father's house, and his native village, and to 
wander, an exile, among strangers. 

The providence of God soon began to give intimation 
that the rich and powerful oppressor and persecutor of 
his people was not to escape unpunished in this world. 
This ruler began to be odious in the eyes of the people, 
and they at length found means to remove him from his 



HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

office ; although their action was not at all connected 
with any religious question or movement among them. 

The chief ruler of the Armenians in Nicomedia, who 
was himself a persecutor of the church, and a powerful 
and notorious oppressor of the people in that part of the 
country, went in person to Kurdbeleng, and by his over- 
powering influence succeeded in reinstating his degraded 
friend, against the wishes of the. majority of the inhabit- 
ants. In returning home, after accomplishing this piece 
of iniquity, he fell from his horse, and fractured his 
skull, and within a few days, died a miserable death. 

Months passed away, when, one day, as the restored 
ruler at Kurdbeleng was sitting in his own house, a mus- 
ket ball was fired through the window, and, entering at 
one of his eyes, passed through his head, and laid him 
dead on the spot ! The assassin was seized, and he con- 
fessed the deed, but declared that he was paid to perpe- 
trate it by an individual whom he named, and was also 
urged to it by the same head priest of the church, who had 
procured the cruel beating of the young man for his evan- 
gelical sentiments ! That priest is now in prison awaiting 
his trial, as a murderer ! 

But this is not the end of the story. The individual 
who inherited the estate and office of the Nicomedian 
ruler, also lent his influence for the persecution of God's 
people. Not long ago, some of the leading persecutors 
from Constantinople were visitors at his house, from 
which they set out in the night, on their return home, 
having carelessly left their lighted pipes in their bed- 
room. The house took fire, and was entirely consumed, 
with a large amount of jewels and other property, taking 
away nearly all the man possessed, at a stroke ! 

My other narrative is of a different kind, though not 
less striking as an illustration of the wonderful workings 
of Divine Providence. In the year 1839, the reigning 
Patriarch, Hagopas by name, was actively engaged in 
persecuting the Prosestants. He issued a thundering 
bull against them, and several of the leading men among 
them he caused to be banished. While employed in this 
hateful work, he was also engaged in building for himself 
a large house, with money procured, as usual, by exac- 



PROTESTANT GOVERNMENTS AND TURKEY. 287 

tions from the people. This house has now become the 
Protestant Chapel in Constantinople. Thus, while with 
one hand he was persecuting the Protestants, and labor- 
ing for their complete extermination in 1839, with the 
other, he was erecting a chapel for them to occupy in 
1 846 ; and it is the only building, so far as we know, that 
is suitable for this purpose, and obtainable by them, in the 
whole of Constantinople proper ! The Patriarch built the 
house for himself and brother, and subsequently gave it 
to the latter as a present. This brother has since be- 
come a Protestant, and thus it is that his house has fallen 
into the hands of the Protestant congregation. It is at 
present hired for a term of years, as a place of preaching, 
and we doubt not that it will be held for this purpose, 
until the providence of God points out to the evangelical 
Armenians a still more suitable place. 

A circumstance of no small moment to those who love 
to study the doings of Providence, is, that within a few 
years past Protestant governments in Europe have taken 
a far deeper interest than ever before, in the prosperity 
of the Protestant cause in the world, and especially in 
Turkey. There is no need that I should here introduce 
the question whether this interest has always led them to 
the right course of action or not ; or the inquiry, which 
is still farther back, how far governments, as such, are 
called upon to meddle with religion. One point I think 
must be clear to all, namely, that the Protestant govern- 
ments of the world have a right to use a moral influence 
in behalf of oppressed and persecuted persons, and espe- 
cially Protestants, wherever they are found. And who 
can fail to recognize the finger of God in it, that the 
cabinets of England and Prussia have, within a few 
years past, exhibited an interest on this subject, which is 
altogether new ; and I may add, which is altogether 
timely. Without expressing any thing to the detriment 
of previous cabinets, and previous embassies, it is to us 
exceedingly plain in regard to Turkey, that as the work 
of God's Spirit has gone on here, and the people of God 
have multiplied in the land, the Lord who is " wonderful 
in counsel/' has put it into the hearts of Protestant 
sovereigns and their ministers, to sympathize with these 



288 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

people in their trials ; and he has also so ordered it, that 
serious minded men, who feel a personal interest in the 
spiritual welfare of the world, should be sent here to rep- 
resent their respective governments. I would, therefore, 
here record, with gratitude, that during the course of the 
persecutions that have been waged here against the Pro- 
testant Armenians, not only have the British Embassa- 
dors, His Excellency Sir Stratford Canning, and the Right 
Honorable Lord Cowley, who has occupied his place 
during his absence in England, promptly acted in behalf of 
the oppressed, but also that Mr. Carr, the Minister of the 
United States, M. Le Coq, the Prussian Minister, and 
Count Perponcher, his successor, have always been ready 
to address to the Porte remonstrances against the perse- 
cuting acts of the Armenian ecclesiastics, based upon the 
promise of the Sultan, that henceforth there shall be no 
more religious persecution in his dominions. Nor must I 
omit to mention that, while for a long course of years the 
representative of the Dutch Government here was a 
Roman Catholic, a native of this country, during the 
past year, Baron Mollerus has been sent out from Hol- 
land to fill this place, he being not only in name a Protes- 
tant, but also evincing a real interest in the establishment 
and prosperity of Protestantism in this land. 

In close connection with this, is the circumstance that 
foreign Protestant residents have been accumulating here 
very rapidly within these few years past, forming a com- 
munity of Protestants, highly important to the interests 
of religion in the country. A large number of English, 
Germans and Americans, have come out, by the express 
call of the Turkish Government, to engage in its service, 
in the various departments of agriculture, manufactures, 
medicine, literary instruction, and military tactics. Al- 
though the individuals filling these places are not all 
what they should be, yet many of them would be an 
honor to any country, and some are very decided re- 
ligious characters. About eight miles from our residence, 
an English colony has recently grown up, in connection 
with some iron and cotton works belonging to the Govern- 
ment, and there will soon be nearly a thousand English- 
men there, including men, women, and children. At 



FOREIGN PROTESTANT RESIDENTS. 289 

present, we supply them with regular preaching every 
Sabbath, but there is no doubt they will, ere long, have a 
pastor of their own from England, and also a school-mas- 
ter ; and the influence of such a Protestant colony must 
be very important in Turkey. A large woolen factory 
has been established near Nicomedia, and very providen- 
tially the gentleman who was first called to take the 
superintendence of it was an English Christian, of a very 
decided and consistent character. He with his family 
resided in Nicomedia for nearly three years, during the 
whole of the persecution, and from their position they 
were enabled often to succor the oppressed, and in 
other ways to exert a very happy influence in that town. 
When the Protestant Armenians there were driven from 
every other place of meeting, this gentleman kindly 
opened a room in his house, where they assembled, un- 
molested, every Sabbath. When the severity of the 
persecution was passed, he and his family were called to 
return to England, where they still remain. 

Last of all I would mention, among the providential 
circumstances which have here combined for the further- 
ance of the gospel, is the complete cessation of the plague. 
For many years before the missionaries came to this land, 
and for several years after their establishment here, the 
plague was an annual visitor, in a violent epidemic form, 
and there was scarcely a month in which cases of it were 
not reported. Its influence on missionary operations 
was disastrous in the extreme. Our schools had to be 
disbanded, our congregations broken up, and social inter- 
course almost entirely interdicted. For ten years past, 
during which the work of God has been constantly pros- 
pering here, and constant meetings, and intercourse with 
the people have been called for, we have been entirely 
exempt from this disease ! Not a single case has occurred 
in this city, so far as our knowledge extends! Truly 
" the Lord of Hosts is wonderful in counsel and excellent 
in working." 

25 



CHAPTER XVI. 



Africa, the Ian i of paradoxes— Hope for Africa. Elements of renovation— Anglo 
Saxon influence — Colonizing — The Slave Trade and Slavery— Commerce. A moral 
machinery— education, the Press, a preached Gospel. Free Government. African 
Education and Civilization Society. The Arabic Press. African languages. 

u Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God." 
Ps. lxviii. 31. 

Africa next demands our attention. Though both 
Mohammedan and Pagan, it deserves a separate consider- 
ation. Ignorant, debased, abused, this continent has 
lain, till quite recently, hopeless, except to the eye of 
faith. But is there now hope for poor Africa ? Does any 
morning star, any harbinger of light arise over that dark 
land ? Yes ; the angel having the everlasting gospel to 
preach, is flying, too, over that dark region, with healing 
in his wings, distilling blessings over the land of Ham. 
There, too, the hand of God is mightily at work, laying 
tribe after tribe at the feet of Christian charity, imploring 
the lamp of life and the full horn of salvation. 

The light of Christianity, which, in the early ages of 
the church, shone in Africa, and numbered among its 
disciples some of her brightest ornaments, long since set 
in darkness ; and long and deep has been that darkness. 
Africa has since been given a prey to the fierce rule of 
the Arabian Prophet, to the sottish dominion of Paganism, 
and to the cruel ravages of the slave trade. Africa has 
been cast out by the nations into outer darkness, beyond 
the furthermost verge of common humanity. But she 
has once more come into remembrance. The hand of 
the Lord is now stretched out for her deliverance. 

A brief survey of some* providential movements to- 
wards this long forsaken continent, will verify this asser- 
tion. Such is the design of the present chapter. 

Africa is the land of paradoxes, enigmas, mysteries. 
If we had no other argument to show that our earth has 
not yet fulfilled its destinies, and, of course, is not ready 



ELEMENTS OF RENOVATION. 291 

to be offered, we would present, as such an argument, the 
past and present condition of Africa. With all her vast 
natural resources, her fertile soil, unparalleled advantages 
for commerce, and " infinite variety of physical and 
national character/' she has remained little more than a 
blank on the map of human development. With the ex- 
ception of Ethiopia, Egypt, and Carthage, Africa has 
strangely and mysteriously played no part in the history 
of man. " She has hung like a dark cloud upon the 
horizon of history, of which the borders only have been 
illuminated, and flung their splendors upon the world." 
Yet to the philosophic historian, there has been acting on 
that theatre a drama of no common interest. The great 
Architect has been pleased to make Africa the theatre on 
which to exhibit the extremes of human elevation and 
depression, of natural beauty and deformity, of fertility 
and barrenness, of high mountains and boundless deserts, 
of burning sands and eternal snows. 

Africa has furnished some of the noblest specimens of 
humanity — plants of renown, delightful examples of civil- 
ization, refinement, and advancement in the arts and 
sciences ; in literature and religion ; in civil liberty and 
free government. And the same soil, too, has been loath- 
somely prolific in ignorance, barbarism, superstition, op- 
pression and despotism. There some of the fairest por- 
tions of the globe have, for three thousand years, " been 
stained with blood and unrevenged wrong; overhung 
with gloom and every form of human woe and human 
guilt." 

But there is hope for Africa. The Hand that is mov- 
ing the world is at work in the land of Ham. We are 
able there to trace the same felicitous combination of 
circumstances, preparing Africa on the one hand for her 
regeneration, and on the other, providing facilities and 
resources for the work. Nearly co-existent with the 
birth of modern benevolent action in England and 
America, there commenced a train of providences in 
Africa, and in respect to Africa, worthy of special re- 
mark. The first love and the first sacrifice of the Ameri- 
can church was given to Africa. The darling object of 
Samuel J. Mills, who was, more than any other man, the 



292 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

father of benevolent enterprise in America, (the object 
for which he seems to have been especially raised up,) 
was the melioration of the condition of Africa. The 
civil, moral and spiritual degradation of that benighted 
land, lay with continual weight on his mind. Through 
his instrumentality, a seminary for the education of young 
men of color, with a view to their becoming missionaries 
in their father-land, was established, and went into opera- 
tion under a Board of Directors appointed by the Synod 
of New York and New Jersey, with Mills for their agent. 
The last months of the life of this devoted man were 
spent on an exploring tour on the Western coast of 
Africa ; the last energies of his great and comprehensive 
mind, and the best affections of his big heart, were de- 
voted to that long neglected land. Yet some years 
before Mills explored the wastes of Western Africa, Eu- 
ropean Christians had begun their work in South Africa. 

Our business at present is with the Hand of God, that 
has opened the door to this great field, and is now hold- 
ing out the promise of a great and no distant harvest. 

1. We see the Hand of God auspiciously at work for 
Africa, in the introduction and increase on that con- 
tinent of Anglo-Saxon power and influence. We have 
seen, the world over, that this is a signal of advancement 
among barbarous nations. It is the lifting up of the dark 
cloud of ignorance and superstition, that light and truth 
may enter. It is the harbinger of the gospel ; it prepares 
the way, and protects the evangelical laborer, and fur- 
nishes facilities and resources for the work. 

Such a power and influence is now begirting Africa, 
and is waxing stronger every year. At Sierra Leone, 
Cape Palmas, Liberia and the Cape of Good Hope, the 
Anglo-Saxon element is taking deep root, and its widely 
extending branches are overshadowing large portions of 
those domains of darkness, and dropping over them 
golden fruits. In this we discover a divine presage, that 
the time to favor this long abused, ill-fated continent, is 
at hand. We hazard no conjecture as to the ultimate 
destiny of England or America, but we cannot be mis- 
taken that Anglo- Saxondom is now being used as the 
right hand of Providence, to civilize, enlighten and Chris- 



PRESENT PLAN OF COLONIZATION. 293 

tianize the Pagan world. Whatever may be the motives 
of England in extending her empire over Asia and Africa, 
or of America in making her power felt, and extending 
her commerce, it is not difficult to see what God is 
bringing out of such extensions of dominion and power. 
But for British power and British sympathy, under the 
favor of Heaven, Africa, with scarcely an exception, 
might, to the present day, have had the " tri-colored flag 
waving on her bosom, bearing the ensigns of the mystery 
of Babylon, the crescent of the false Prophet and the em- 
blems of Pagan darkness, from the shores of the Mediter- 
ranean to the colony of the Cape of Good Hope/' 

2. Another providential feature of a kindred charac- 
ter, is the present plan of colonizing on the coasts of 
Africa. The influence of colonies is not now a matter 
of theory but of experience. Carthage was a colony ; 
the wealth, power, civilization and magnificence of that 
ancient kingdom, was not an indigenous growth of an 
African soil. It was an exotic, transplanted thither, and 
there made to flourish till it spread its branches far into 
the interior, and covered many tribes and nations with 
its shadow. 

What we are concerned with here, is the influence of 
the introduction into a Pagan country of an enlightened, 
civilized, thrifty, foreign population. They furnish, first, 
a tangible, living example of what skill, industry and in- 
telligence can do. And as the superior and inferior 
classes mingle together, this skill and industry will be 
communicated and received. It will provoke to imita- 
tion ; and the advantages on the part of the inferior class 
are immense — immense before we admit into the account 
the moral element, which we shall see enters largely into 
all modern systems of colonizing. 

The Carthaginians too well understood the power of a 
colonizing policy, not to prosecute it to the extending of 
their empire, which, in turn, became a vast benefit to 
the adjacent tribes and nations of native Africans. Most 
ancient historians have noticed this admirable policy of 
the Carthaginians : " It is this way/' says Aristotle, 
" Carthage preserves the love of her people. She sends 
out colonies continually, composed of her citizens, into 

25* 



294 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

the districts around her, and by that means makes them 
men of property ; assists the poor by accustoming them 
to labor/' The natives gradually intermingled with the 
colonists, and formed the strength of the Carthaginian 
state. Herodotus affirms that, beyond the dominions of 
the Carthaginian empire, no people could be found in 
settled habitations, and engaged in agricultural pursuits. 
But no sooner did these same nomadic tribes fall beneath 
the transforming process of Carthaginian colonization, 
than they became civilized, enlightened and compara- 
tively refined, and were found engaged in " the peaceful 
occupations of the field/' As examples of this, another 
ancient historian (Scylax) describes the country around 
the lesser Syrtis and Triton Lake, as "magnificently 
fruitful," abounding in tall, fine cattle, and the inhabitants 
distinguished for wealth and beauty. Another region, 
according to Strabo, between two and three hundred 
miles in length, extending southward from Cape Bon, and 
one hundred and fifty miles in width, was also distin- 
guished for its fertility and high cultivation. It embraced 
the most flourishing sea-ports, and was crowned with 
agricultural settlements. 

Such was the transforming power of ancient coloniza- 
tion in Africa — a colonization confessedly deficient in 
some of the most powerful elements which enter into 
modern schemes of colonizing. For of all the transform- 
ing elements ever thrown into the confused mass of Pa- 
ganism, Christianity is the most powerful. Civil and 
religious liberty is another mighty element ; speculative 
science, another ; and practical science, yet another. 
The first and the mightiest of these, was entirely want- 
ing in the colonizations of Carthage, and the others 
scarcely entered into the account. 

What, then, may we reasonably expect as the fruit of 
modern colonization ? The hand of the Lord is in it. 
The two great Protestant nations, whose language, litera- 
ture and science, contain nearly all the truth there is in 
the world, and whose churches nearly all the religion, 
and whose religion nearly all the benevolence, and whose 
governments nearly all the freedom, have, in the won- 
drous workings of Providence, been moved to colonize in 



ENGLISH AND AMERICAN COLONIES. 295 

Africa. The English have colonies at the Cape of Good 
Hope, and in other portions of South Africa; on the 
Senegal and the Gambia ; at Sierra Leone and Cape Coast 
Castle ; and they are beginning to occupy the mouths of 
the Niger. And there are American colonies (now an 
independent government,) at Liberia and Cape Palmas. 
And these colonies are very much under the auspices of 
religious and philanthropic influences. Now, with the 
example of Carthage before us, what have we reason to 
expect their influence will be on Africa ? Certainly 
nothing less than that they shall furnish tangible illustra- 
tions of the religion, the skill, industry and enterprise of 
the people there colonized ; exhibiting the advantages 
of science, of improvement in the arts and in agriculture, 
and of a well ordered government ; that they shall con- 
tinue to extend their commerce and other benefits gained, 
back into the interior, constantly reaching their arms 
abroad and gathering tribe after tribe within the pale of 
their influence. Agriculture will be encouraged; a 
market opened for its avails ; the slave trade thereby be 
effectually discouraged ; savage life be abandoned, and 
the way for the gospel and all its concomitant blessings 
be opened. The colonist will be seen to possess almost 
every advantage over the native, and the latter can 
scarcely do otherwise than to fall in with the new order 
of things in proportion as he comes in contact with the 
colony. 

Experience gives no hope of success in efforts to 
evangelize Africa, except through Christian colonies. 
The Moravians, who have yielded to no obstacles, either 
amidst the snows of the poles or the burning heats of the 
equator, or from the wrath of man, or the elements, failed 
in Africa. " Attempts at sixteen different points, made 
with the heroism of martyrs, to establish schools and mis- 
sions, they have been forced to abandon, and to retire 
within the protection of the British colonies. And they 
now despair of every process, but that of commencing at 
these radiating points, and proceeding gradually out- 
wards until the work is done." 

But there is one peculiar feature in the colonization 
now going forward in Western Africa, more strikingly 



296 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

providential and more potent in its bearings on the na- 
tives than perhaps has been well understood. I mean 
the fact that the colonists are of the same race or species, 
as the natives among whom they are colonized. Any 
one acquainted with the habits and modes of reasoning 
which prevail on this subject among rude barbarians, 
must know that their habits of generalization are very 
imperfect. They have no idea that all men are of " one 
blood" — the same order of beings — and that what is true 
of one people may, under similar circumstances, become 
true of another. . You may place by the side of a tribe 
of native negroes, or native Hindoos, a colony of white 
men and women, well educated, well bred, industrious, 
intelligent, thrifty, moral and religious, who have, in 
every thing, made decided advances beyond the barbar- 
ous condition of man, having convincingly demonstrated 
the capability and improvability of man, and yet, in 
theory, it will exert no influence on the barbarous tribe, 
and in practice, but a very slow and partial influence. 
And why not ? Simply because the barbarian sees the 
development (which he may admire and wish he could 
imitate,) made in what he believes to be another order 
of beings. He does not believe it imitable by himself or 
his people. It is a development in the white man's na- 
ture, not in his. 

But no such difficulty impedes the progress of improve- 
ment in Africa. The native Ashantee or Foulah, re- 
cognizes, in the improved condition and character of the 
colonist, his own flesh and blood, his own color and 
species ; and he no longer doubts the improvability of 
his own tribe. 

3. But the thought may be allowed to assume another 
shape, and we shall have no less occasion to admire the 
wonder-working Hand. 

Cordially as every good man is bound by conscience 
and by God, to detest and abhor from the innermost re- 
cesses of his soul, the slave trade and a wicked system 
of slavery, he must admire that gracious Hand in so con- 
trolling even man's bitterest wrongs, as to educe from 
them a lasting and general good. If God did not bring 
good out of evil, and praise out of man's wrath, how little 



THE SLAVE TRADE AND SLAVERY. 297 

good would come of this poor world — how little praise 
accrue to his name. 

The slave trade and slavery are giant wrongs — mon- 
strous sins ; but let us see what God is bringing out of 
them. Thousands of wretched beings are yearly forced 
away from their homes, amidst shrieks, and conflagrations, 
and blood ; submitted to the horrors and deaths of the 
middle passage ; reduced to bondage cruel as death ; 
awful is the sacrifice of liberty, happiness and life ; of 
every thing worth possessing ; yet, from this dark and 
troubled ocean of sin, He, whose ways are not as our 
ways, deduces a great and lasting good. These wretched 
victims of man's avarice and cruelty, were benighted 
Pagans. Their land was the region and shadow of 
death — the habitations of cruelty. They were brought 
to a Christian land. In the durance vile, as they toil out 
their wearisome years, many come in contact with the 
benign influences of Christianity. To the poor the gos- 
pel is preached. This angel of mercy meets them in 
their wearisome pilgrimage, sheds light about their 
gloomy path, and brings rest and peace to many a weary 
and heavy laden soul. Many become Christians, and 
many more, in spite of the mountain-burdens which 
crush them to the earth, rise far above their original con- 
dition in their native land. Thus God, in the hot furnace 
of affliction, and in defiance of all human wrong, pre- 
pares his materials for the regeneration of Africa. Thou- 
sands thus fitted, return to the land of their fathers, to 
teach and exemplify a pure Christianity ; to encourage 
industry, agriculture and learning among the natives ; 
to create a market for the products of honest indus- 
try, and thereby to remove one of the strongest induce- 
ments to the slave trade ; to exhibit the advantages of a 
settled life, and of an organized government, and to in- 
close within the arms of civilization and Christianity, 
tribe after tribe in the interior; and by these several 
means, to extinguish, most effectually, slavery and the 
slave trade. 

It is, again, through the wrongs inflicted on Africa, 
that she has been brought to the distinct and favorable 
notice of the whole Christian world, and been able to 



29S HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

enlist its profoundest sympathies and prompt compassion. 
The heart of Christendom yearns for poor, bleeding 
Africa, and it is not too much to expect that her emanci- 
pation, and freedom, and evangelization, will become ob- 
jects of intense interest to all philanthropists and Chris- 
tians. Recent movements of Providence favor such an 
expectation.* 

But here we shall need to look for a few moments in 
another direction, that we may the better comprehend 
what God is working out for Africa. It is always de- 
lightful to observe the timings of Providence — how one 
thing is made to answer to another. With one hand, 
God is preparing Africa to receive the richest of Heav- 
en's blessings ; with *the other, he is preparing the mate- 
rials and instruments by which to carry forward the 
ameliorating process. And, at the same time, he is 
arousing the energies of philanthropists and Christians, 
to enter the field now ripe for the harvest. 

During the last twenty years, changes have been taking 
place in the slave-holding portion of our country, in refer- 
ence to slavery and the enslaved, which augurs well for 
the work of emancipation at no very distant day. Pub- 
lic sentiment has changed. Slavery is now very exten- 
sively regarded as a public burden — an evil. The colored 
man is no longer regarded as incapable of holding sta- 
tions, and pursuing occupations like white men ; the laws 
which prohibited the education of slaves, have, to a great 

* With many good people it has been a subject of profound regret and lamentation, 
that the work of emancipation in oar country should be retarded, and the cause of 
African colonization be maligned and hindered by the strange fanaticism of a large 
class of the professed friends of the slave. Why this seeming disaster? The marvel 
will cease as we look towards the end. Had the states of Delaware, Maryland, Vir- 
ginia and Kentucky, freed their slaves, as in all probability they would but for the in- 
judicious and provoking agitation of northern abolitionism, our African colonies would 
nave been inundated by a multitude of emancipated negroes but ill-prepared for self- 
government, and before the colonies themselves had become so established, and their 
principles so matured, that they should not be overwhelmed in the moral siroccos of 
Africa— amalgamated in the heathen tribes about them. Abolitionism came in to re- 
lard a ruinous prosperity. A government is now established which is in the hands of 
colored men, who have managed their own affairs until they have satisfied themselves 
~nd the world of their ability for republican government. " Schools and churches, and 
their necessary organizations, have been operating for years. Society in all its great 
departments is organized, opinions formed and principles established." And the way 
is now prepared for emancipation and colonization to go on, hand in hand, to almost 
any conceivable extent. What would have been the result of our experiment at self- 
government and religious freedom, had the present immense accessions of European 
population poured in upon us fifty years ago, while our institutions were yet in their 
infancy ? 



CHANGES IN PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 299 

extent, become a dead letter; and the idea that slavery 
is a necessary institution at the south, because white men 
cannot labor in that climate, is quite exploded by the late 
immigration into that part of the country, of Irishmen and 
Germans, who have extensively become laborers there. 
Slave-labor is every year becoming less and less valua- 
ble ; and, of consequence, self-interest is fast eradicating 
the evil. 

Such changes have not only done much to facilitate 
emancipation, but to prepare a great multitude to emi- 
grate to Africa, and to be useful citizens there: school- 
masters, preachers, statesmen, and useful members of so- 
ciety in every rank of life. In no respect, perhaps, do 
we more clearly discern the hand of God, than in the late 
educational and religious movements among the slaves. 
God has wonderfully vouchsafed his spirit to this ill-fated 
class of our countrymen. To the poor the gospel has 
been preached, and they have received it gladly. " In no 
period since the existence of slavery/' says an intelligent 
writer, " has there been such attention paid to the reli- 
gious instruction of the slaves, as in the last ten years ; 
and in no part of the world have there been gathered 
richer fruits to encourage the laborer." "It is truly sur- 
prising and cheering to witness the almost universal feel- 
ing and interest on this subject, and the extent to which 
they have carried out their plans, in establishing schools 
and churches, and obtaining missionaries and teachers 
for the sole benefit of the colored people. Some of the 
church edifices, which are neat and costly, are owned by 
the slaves themselves, with regular organized churches, 
and large, orderly congregations, where they enact their 
own laws, manage their own finances, and take up col- 
lections for benevolent purposes. Some of their churches 
are large, numbering from one to two thousand commu- 
nicants." 

And in connection with these churches, you may meet 
Sabbath-schools of from one to two hundred children, 
who are faithfully taught the Bible — and there, the Chris- 
tian mistress, sitting in the school-room from morning till 
night, spending her strength in teaching her young slaves, 
and endeavoring to prepare them for the enjoyment of 



300 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

free dom ; and this, month after month ; living among 
them, not of choice, but because she "dares not run away 
from a duty which she feels God, in his mysterious prov- 
idence has imposed upon her." Says another lady, " I 
am living here an exile from my home, on account of my 
slaves, which have been entailed upon me, and which I 
cannot part with, for they will not consent to be sepa- 
rated from me." 

The truth is, the more intelligent and better class of 
people at the south regard slavery as a " moral and pe- 
cuniary evil," and contemplate the certainty of abolition, 
and the importance of educating the mind and elevating 
the character, and preparing the slave for that liberty 
which they feel sure God designs him one day to enjoy. 
Such are topics of not unfrequent discussion at the 
south.* 

But I am unwilling to dismiss this topic here. The 
south is now furnishing delightful indications that God is 
there preparing a multitude of men and women for the 
high responsibilities of their future destiny, when the time 
shall come for their removal to the land of their fathers ; 
that they may go thither, instructed in the principles of 
our blessed religion and of civil liberty, to be instruments 
of inestimable good to an ignorant, degraded and barbar- 
ous continent. The intelligent writer already quoted, 
describes another scene which fell under his observation, 
too fitly illustrating the point in hand, not to be tran- 
scribed at length. Few at the north may be fully aware 
that such things are to be met with on slave-holding ter- 
ritory. Every Christian and philanthropist will rejoice, 
and see therein the good hand of the Lord in the execu- 
tion of his benevolent purposes towards Africa. 

Having attended, by invitation, public worship on the 
premises of a wealthy slave-holder, in a "commodious 
brick church, erected exclusively for the accommodation 
of his colored people," where he met a " most orderly, 
well-dressed, well-behaved congregation," and a slave in 
the pulpit, who delivered a " most sensible, appropriate 
sermon," Mr. Sawtell, on returning to the house, took 

* Rev. E. W. Sawtell, in the New York Observer, April, 1847. 



EDUCATION AND THE PRESS. 301 

the occasion to learn more of this gentleman's views on 
the " subject of preparing his servants for liberty in this 
world, and happiness in the next." 

" Why," said he, " we must educate them ; we owe it 
to our slaves, and now we have the power to do it. We 
must instruct them in the Christian religion, in the me- 
chanic arts, in the principles of free government, or their 
freedom would prove a curse instead of a blessing. 

" I speak not," said he, " theoretically, but from expe- 
rience. I have already educated about one hundred of 
mine, who have, of their own choice, gone to Liberia ; 
some of them are merchants, some farmers, and others 
mechanics. I gave two of them a collegiate education, 
and the rest I educated myself; and I have the satisfac- 
tion of knowing that they are all doing well, are useful 
and happy. One of them is a missionary, and he writes 
me that he has nearly two hundred native African chil- 
dren in his school ; teaching them our language, our reli- 
gion, and our laws ; and that you may see for yourselves, 
read these letters." Here he handed a number of letters 
received from the colony of Liberia, from those that were 
once his own ignorant slaves ; and, to say nothing of the 
elegance of diction and penmanship, they were so filled 
with expressions of joy and rejoicing, of love and grati- 
tude to their master, as to make it utterly impossible to 
read them without weeping — addressing him by such en- 
dearing appellations as, "dear father," "dear parent," 
" dear benefactor," and declaring at the close, that they 
had but one single wish for ever visiting the United 
States again, and that was, " that they might see, once 
more, their dear old father before he died." "Now," 
said this old gentleman, " this is my idea of our duty and 
obligation to the slaves, and of God's purposes in sending 
them here, and what I have done for those in Liberia, I 
am going to do for all." 

On asking him how he managed to teach so many him- 
self, he replied, " I have them divided into four classes : 
at daylight, on Sabbath morning, I call the first class, 
and drill them in reading and spelling, till breakfast. Af- 
ter breakfast, the second class is called, and they go 
through the shorter catechism and the ten command- 

26 



302 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

ments. Then comes the hour for public worship, when 
one of the servants, who is a minister, becomes the 
teacher, and I the learner. After public service, the 
other two classes, more advanced, are carried through 
their respective lessons in the same way as those in the 
morning. This is the way I spend all my Sabbaths ; nor 
do I suffer any intrusion from my neighbors, unless it be 
one who is desirous of learning the art of doing good, and 
of training up his slaves for the high purposes and destiny 
for which God designs them." 

But another peculiarity in this man's system of train- 
ing his slaves for freemen is, that he allows of no arbi- 
trary control or punishment. In fact, his slaves are or- 
ganized into a perfect republic, possessing all the ele- 
ments of a free, legislative government. Their trials for 
any misdemeanor or crime, are by jury, witnesses ex- 
amined, and special pleadings, with all the solemnities of 
a court. In important and difficult cases, the old master 
is sometimes called in to preside as judge, and decide 
upon some difficult points of law ; but the verdict, the 
sentence, and its execution, are all in their own hands. 

Thus it is in this way they are learning important and 
practical lessons in the principles of civil polity and juris- 
prudence. And if we ask this benevolent man for his 
motive in all this, his answer is worthy of being recorded 
in golden capitals. " Why," said he, " intelligence, vir- 
tue and religion constitute the only sure basis of a repub- 
lic. I believe Africa is to be a republic, and receive our 
language, laws and institutions ; and I believe the cupid- 
ity of England, in first introducing slaves upon this con- 
tinent, is to be overruled for the furtherance of this cause, 
and so many of these instruments as God in his provi- 
dence has placed in my hands, I want to prepare and get 
them ready to meet their high responsibilities when the 
time for action shall come." 

And so believe I. Monstrous as the curse of slavery 
is, disgraceful as it is to our country, and cruel as are the 
dark deeds of those who perpetrate this wrong on human- 
ity, God seems likely to overrule it for a great and gen- 
eral good, and by means the most unexpected. Slave- 
holders are softened into pity towards their helpless vas- 



COMMERCE OF AFRICA. 303 

sals, and have set themselves to prepare them for liberty ; 
slave-traders, (as the gentleman just referred to once was,) 
have personally become their teachers and nursing fa- 
thers ; famine, pestilence and oppression in the old world, 
have driven the vassals of Europe to this new world, to 
do the work now done by the African, and thereby to re- 
move the supposed necessity of slavery ; and many other 
like providential interpositions combine to fit a great mul- 
titude of the colored race in America to go forth and 
bless the dark continent of Africa. God's thoughts are 
not as our thoughts, nor his ways as our ways. 

The south possesses the grand lever for raising Africa. 
" Let the foot of it be placed at Liberia ; let Christian 
patriots and philanthropists throw their weight upon this 
end of it, making the Bible the fulcrum, and ere long Af- 
rica, with her sable millions, will be seen emerging from 
the long night of cruel tyranny and barbarism, into the 
pure sunlight of civilization, with her churches and 
schools, her colleges and legislative halls, her poets and 
orators, her statesmen and rulers, taking their position 
among the enlightened and civilized nations of the earth. 
The Lord hasten it in his time, and to him be the glory." 

4. There is another point from which we must con- 
template the same mighty Hand. It is in respect to 
commerce; a kindred feature with one already named. 
Commerce and the colony are working together, and 
much in the same way. A legitimate commerce is God's 
instrument for the civilization of the world, and the chan- 
nel through which he brings about its evangelization. It 
was commerce which gave to ancient states their re- 
nown, and laid the foundation of their greatness. Com- 
merce was the " parent and nurse" of civilization and the 
arts in Carthage, in Egypt and Meroe. 

x\frica has long been without a legitimate commerce ; 
and now that its white wings, in the revolving wheels of 
Providence, are being spread over her, we may take it as 
a token for good. This, in connection with the colo- 
nizing policy, will do more to annihilate the slave trade 
than all that can possibly be effected by the combined 
navies of Great Britain and America. Africa has had 
wants to be supplied by foreign nations, but with her 



301 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

past habits she has had nothing to give in exchange for 
needed supplies, except the flesh and blood of her own 
sons and daughters. She is now learning from Christian 
colonists the worth of the exhaustless resources of her 
soil, her forests and her mountains, and the yet less de- 
veloped resources of her own industry. And we cannot 
doubt, when she shall have time to accept the substitute 
which commerce offers, she will sooner take the calicoes 
and trinkets, and whatever else she may need, in ex- 
change for her cotton, sugar, rice, grain, gums, and gold, 
than for the bones and sinews of her children. 

" The emancipation of Africa," says one, " can be ef- 
fected only from within herself. Her nations must be 
raised to that moral and political power, which shall com- 
bine them in firm resistance against oppression. To do 
this, the chief points of commercial influence upon the 
coast, and of access to the interior, must be occupied by 
strong and well regulated colonies, from which civiliza- 
tion and religion shall radiate to the surrounding regions." 
This we hold to be a just sentiment ; and in proportion 
as we see the principal points, and the strong-holds of Af- 
rica becoming depots of European arts, science, com- 
merce, and religion, we hail the day as at hand when 
Christian philanthropy shall realize some of her " divinest 
wonders," amidst those nations that have so long sat in 
darkness. 

Providential coincidences, which we have had occasion 
more than once to notice, are nowhere more distinctly 
marked than in the movements in Africa, and in respect 
to Africa. The vast and extensive preparations which 
have been making on that continent for its regeneration, 
are co-existent with the remarkable waking up of the 
philanthropic and benevolent engergies of Christendom in 
its behalf. As the door is opened on the one hand, the 
means are provided on the other. 

But we shall fail to appreciate the prospective influ 
ence of commerce on Africa, if we do not allow a mo- 
ment's consideration of the resources and the commercial 
advantages of that continent. Few may be aware of the 
amount of commerce which England and America al- 
ready carry on with Africa; yet her resources have 



COMMERCIAL ADVANTAGES. 305 

scarcely begun to be developed, or her advantages to be 
improved. A single mercantile house in England had a 
trade with Western Africa, the value of whose imports 
for the years 1832 — 33 — 34, amounted to $1,400,000 
annually; and the next year, the importations to Eng- 
land of the single article of palm oil, were one thousand 
two hundred and sixty five tons; worth $1,700,000. 
But it is rather to the yet unappropriated resources of 
the country to which we refer, as exhibiting any thing 
like the due importance to be attached to the providential 
movement under consideration. 

Speaking of Western and Central Africa, a writer, re- 
viewing Mungo Park, says, " there is probably no other 
equal expanse of territory which has such a portion of 
its surface capable of easy cultivation. From the base 
of the Kong Mountains, in every direction to the Atlan- 
tic on the one side, and to the deserts on the other, the 
land slopes off in easy gradations or terraces, presenting 
luxuriant plains, immense forests, and mountainous or un- 
dulating regions of great variety and beauty. It pos- 
sesses, almost universally, a soil which knows no exhaus- 
tion. A perpetual bloom covers the surface, over which 
reigns the untroubled serenity of a cloudless sky. Aside 
from the splendors and luxuries of the vegetable world, 
the great staple of commerce may be produced here in 
an unlimited abundance. The cotton tree, which, in our 
southern states, must be planted every spring, grows 
there for four successive years, yielding four crops of the 
finest quality. Coffee grows spontaneously in the inte- 
rior, giving about nine pounds to the plant. Rice, with 
a little cultivation in some places, equals the fertility of 
the imperial fields of China ; and sugar-cane grows with 
unrivaled magnificence/' Those travelers who have 
most carefully examined the soil and products, assure us 
that there is nothing in the glowing climes of the Indies, 
Eastern or Western, which some parts of Central Africa 
will not produce with equal richness. " It cannot admit 
of a. doubt," says Park, " that all the rich productions, both 
of the East and West Indies, might easily be naturalized 
and brought to the utmost perfection, in the tropical parts 
of this immense continent. Nothing is wanting to this 

26* 



HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

end but example to enlighten the minds of the natives, 
and instruction to enable them to direct their industry to 
proper objects. It was not possible for me to behold the 
wonderful fertility of the soil, the vast herds of cattle, 
proper both for labor and food, and a variety of other cir- 
cumstances favorable to colonization and agriculture, and 
reflect withal on the means which presented themselves 
of a vast inland navigation, without lamenting that a 
country so abundantly gifted and favored by nature, 
should remain in its present savage and neglected state." 

Her mountains, too, are full of riches — her streams run 
down on golden sands — her mineral riches seem not in- 
ferior to the wealth of her soil. And if we add to all this 
the facilities which Africa enjoys for navigation and inter- 
nal communication, w T e cannot fail to get some just idea 
of the magnitude of the commercial element which is soon 
to be used, and which Providence has begun to use, for 
the civilization and the renovation of Africa. To say 
nothing of the obvious advantages of her immense line 
of sea-coast, Western, Central and Eastern Africa is 
drained by numerous large and navigable rivers, down 
w r hich her gems, and gold, and wealth may flow, to enrich 
and beautify all lands, while she shall receive, in return, 
the richer gifts of science, freedom and religion. And the 
fact that the Niger, which, in its singularly circuitous 
course, visits a large portion of Central Africa, has already 
been invaded by the paddle-wheels of European improve- 
ment, (English skill and intelligence blessing the hitherto 
benighted regions of the Niger,) is a pleasing prognos- 
tication of what God is about to do for that long forsaken 
continent. 

And God is doing yet more for Africa. The Ottoman 
Empire has, perhaps, been the most formidable hindrance 
to the redemption of Africa. By its inhumane policy and 
intolerant religion ; by the encouragement it has afforded 
to the slave trade, and its active participation in that in- 
human traffick, it has stood as a most formidable barrier to 
all progress. But that obstacle is, in a great measure, 
removed. In the sure revolutions of Providence the Otto- 
man Empire is falling into decay. Its power is gone ; 
and henceforth, as the tide of knowledge, freedom and 



A MORAL MACHINERY. 307 

religion shall roll on their waves eastward into the centre 
of Africa, they shall no longer be arrested by the intolerant 
disciples of Mecca, or be turned back by the withering 
sirocco of the slave trade. 

5. There remains one other point from which I would 
have you see Africa as a land in which God is preparing 
his way before him. It is the providential existence of a 
moral machinery, already in successful operation, and in- 
creasing every year, which can scarcely fail to work out 
the redemption of Africa. Education, the press and the 
preached gospel, are a threefold lever, which, as has been 
done in so many other lands, will surely raise wretched 
Africa from the dark vicinity of hell into a delightful 
proximity with heaven. The introduction, protection and 
success of recent efforts for the evangelization of Africa, 
are purely providential. The full amount of this provi- 
dential agency we can estimate only by bringing before 
the mind a complete catalogue of all the missionary sta- 
tions which now begirt Africa — the number of laborers — 
the means of usefulness, by the press, education, or a 
preached gospel — their operations — present results, and 
prospective influence. Such a view, alone, would exhibit 
the force of the moral machinery which Providence has 
there prepared for the future prosecution of his work. A 
general idea, sufficiently accurate for our present purpose, 
may, however, be gained from the following general, 
though not complete view of evangelical missions in 
Africa. 

Nearly every missionary society, known to the writer, 
has missions in Africa. Reliable statistics make them, in 
all, eighteen. These missions are met at Sierra Leone, 
Liberia, Cape Palmas, Cape Coast Castle ; at the Gambia 
settlement ; on the coast of Guinea ; on Fernando Po ; at 
various points in South Africa, and a single station on the 
eastern coast, and one on the northern. 

The following may be taken as very nearly the present 
effective force acting in Africa, as gathered from statistics, 
which may be relied on.* 

* Missionary Herald, May, 1847. 



308 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

Stations. Laborers. Co?nmunicants. Scholars. 



South Africa, 


115 


260 


10,725 


11,218 


West 


53 


161 


6,323 


8,638 


North " 


1 


11 


20 


234 


East "i 


1 


2 







170 434 17,068 20,090 

By laborers, we mean missionaries and assistant mis- 
sionaries. The above items are, perhaps, all below the 
reality, on account of the deficiency of reports, but suffi- 
ciently accurate to give a general idea of the instru- 
mentality which Providence has made ready for future 
progress. Much has been done to introduce the gospel 
into Africa — and yet how little ! Cut off South Africa, 
and remove a narrow strip of the western coast, and only 
two stations will remain. 

The Church Missionary Society have thirteen stations 
in West Africa ; the Moravians, seven stations and forty- 
seven missionaries, and six thousand, eight hundred and 
forty converts, in South Africa; in four of their congre- 
gations five thousand persons are wont to hear the gospel. 
The Wesleyan Missionary Society has been providen- 
tially led, by a train of circumstances which it could nei- 
ther have foreseen nor controlled, to extend its operations 
four hundred miles along the coast of Guinea, and two 
hundred miles interior towards Ashantee. 

The instance just alluded to, is too beautifully illus- 
trative of our general position, as well as of the present 
movements of Providence in Africa, to be passed without 
a moment's detail. A number of the inhabitants of Ba- 
dagry, having been sold as slaves, were captured by a 
British cruiser, and carried into Sierra Leone. There 
they became acquainted with Christian missionaries and 
with Christianity. In due time they are returned to 
Badagry, where they make known the religion of the 
cross, exemplify Christianity by an improved life, and thus 
prepare the way for the establishment of a promising 
mission there under the auspices of the Wesleyans. Mr. 
Freeman, of the newly established mission, visits Under- 
stone, one hundred miles to the north of Badagry, meets 
there, too, a large number of these Sierra Leone Christians, 



ESTABLISHMENT OF MISSIONS. 309 

(or re-captured slaves,) who are overjoyed to see him ; 
he receives a cordial welcome from the King Lodeke, 
who had become favorably disposed to the English Gov- 
ernment, to English missions, and to Christianity, through 
those of his people who had been so kindly rescued from 
slavery, and returned, and yet more pleased with the im- 
proved moral condition in which they had returned. This 
led to the establishment of another mission under royal 
auspices, the king himself being the chief patron. Such 
examples might be multiplied. The re-capture of the 
Mendians — their being brought to New England — taught 
Christianity — and their return to their own country, to 
report what they had learned, and the establishment of a 
mission in connection with them, is another example of 
the same character. 

Kings and chiefs, not a few, have favored other mis- 
sions, extending the arms of their protection over them ; 
not only inviting missionaries to reside in their dominions, 
but offering them houses to live in, and facilities to work 
with. In the colonies of Cape Palmas, Liberia proper, 
Sierra Leone, and on the Gambia, are more than one 
hundred missionaries and assistant missionaries engaged 
in successful labor ; some of them native Africans ; five 
thousand regular communicants, and twelve thousand 
regular attendants, and tens of thousands perfectly ac- 
cessible to the preaching of the gospel. The Rev. Mr. 
Wilson, in late tours to the north and south of the Ga- 
boon, one hundred and fifty miles, and for many miles in- 
terior, found "the people generally ready to hear the 
gospel, and they solicited a missionary" to reside among 
them. And all this since the settlement at Sierra Leone 
in 1787. Surely the finger of God is pointing to colonies 
as the medium through which Christian missions are to 
reach the one hundred and fifty millions of benighted, 
bleeding Africa. 

The colony at Liberia affords a pleasant illustration 
of this. A population of some seven or eight thousand 
emigrants and re-captured slaves, has twenty-three 
churches, embracing a third part of the entire population ; 
fifteen schools, with five hundred and sixty-two pupils ; 
four hundred miles of sea-coast arrested from the slave 



310 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

trade — a civilized and republican government, which ex- 
tends its sway (beyond the number above named,) over 
eighty thousand native Africans — one hundred thousand 
more are in treaty with this government not to engage in 
the traffick of slaves. 

From whatever point we look, we can scarcely fail to 
see that Providence is accumulating a vast and effective 
power for the renovation of Africa. His strong arm is 
now made bare to break the bands that have so long held 
her in thraldom, and to give her the liberty whereby the 
gospel makes free. Colonies are opening the way ; com- 
merce is giving wings to benevolence ; bringing mind in 
contact with mind ; bringing the destitute in proximity 
with their benefactors, and the Divine agency, through a 
preached gospel, is furnishing the effective power by 
which to achieve the desired transformation. 

In Western Africa we see the banners of civil liberty 
unfurled in the creation of a free government in Liberia, 
which, we hope, is as the little leaven in the meal. An 
" African Education and Civilization Society" springs 
into existence, about the same time, in New York, to aid 
" young persons of color, who desire to devote themselves 
to God and their kindred according to the flesh," and to 
promote " the general cause of education in Africa. And, 
simultaneously with these, there comes an appeal from 
Syria in behalf of the " Arabic press ;" arrangements 
being made there for the publication of a Christian litera- 
ture for the " Arab race," including a correct and ac- 
ceptable translation of the Holy Scriptures in Arabic — a 
language spoken by a people scattered over Africa from 
the Red Sea to the Atlantic. 

6. Late philological researches in Africa seem to be 
developing a fact in reference to languages, which indi- 
cates a most interesting providential arrangement for the 
encouragement of the missionary, and to facilitate the 
work of Africa's evangelization. It is the close affinity 
of African dialects. Investigations made by Rev. Mr. 
Wilson in Western Africa, and by Rev. Dr. Krapf, W. 
D. Cooley and others, on the Eastern coast, and in the 
interior of the continent south of the equator, discover a 
striking affinity among the languages spoken throughout 



AFFINITY OF AFRICAN LANGUAGES. 311 

that vast territory. So close is this affinity that the na- 
tive of Zanzibar, on the Eastern coast, may, with little 
difficulty, understand the language of the native of the 
Gaboon. Such being the fact, (and a like discovery may 
be made in reference to the languages spoken north oi 
the equator,) we at once surmise that Providence has an- 
ticipated one of the most formidable obstacles to the diffu- 
sion of the gospel among the unknown millions of that 
continent, and prepared the way for its evangelization, 
when the fiat shall be given, with an astonishing and 
glorious rapidity. 

Thus are obstacles vanishing, and means multiplying, 
and channels opening through the broad moral wastes of 
this great desert, by which the pure waters of salvation 
shall course their way, and bear spiritual life and health 
to that parched land. 

Christian missions are, in a word, following up com- 
mercial enterprise, and the laudable efforts to suppress the 
slave trade. And, at the same time, Heaven is over- 
ruling that nefarious traffick to the great and permanent 
good of that long-abused and degraded continent. Thou- 
sands of her long-lost sons are returning to bless the land 
from which, by the hand of violence, they were so cruelly 
torn away. They that were lost are found ; they that 
were dead are alive. They are acting the part of the 
little Israelitish maid. They have brought with them a 
good report of the God of Israel, and thousands of their 
benighted countrymen are sharing with them the riches, 
civil, social, intellectual and spiritual, with which they 
have returned laden. Let the present plans of coloniza- 
tion be carried into effect, and the advancement of Africa, 
under God, is secured. 

It is a delightful feature of our times that a Divine 
agency is at work among the nations of the earth, re- 
moving obstacles, demolishing the strong-holds of Satan, 
and gathering resources and providing facilities for the 
moral conquest of the world. And in relation to no 
country is this agency more visible than in Africa. " And 
unless nature's resources must be squandered in vain, and 
Christian philanthropy be baffled, and the great move- 
ments of the moral and political world come to naught, 



312 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

the period will ere long arrive when she shall be en- 
lightened and powerful, and shall lavish her blessings 
among the kingdoms of the earth as freely as they have 
lavished on her chains and ignominy." 

Christianity once flourished in Africa. A thousand 
churches once adorned her northern border. She had 
her "colleges, her repositories of science and learning, 
her Cyprians and Bishops of apostolic renown, and her 
noble army of martyrs." There was light in Africa when 
there was darkness in all the world beside. Nowhere 
has learning, and empire, and civilization, and refine- 
ment, and Christianity, more prospered. But their light 
has been extinguished, and no land has been covered with 
a denser darkness. And as we now see the Sun of Right- 
eousness again beginning to cast its healing beams over 
that sable land, and the spirit of former years to revivify 
her moral deserts, we may indulge the pleasing hope that 
this long neglected, fruitless field, is about to be inclosed 
within the domains of civil liberty and a pure Christianity. 

The view we have now taken of Africa and things 
pertaining to Africa, supplies an argument in behalf of 
colonizing our colored population on the coast of Africa. 
Hundreds — thousands, and many of them emancipated 
slaves, may now, with their own consent, be transferred 
to their native land, greatly to the benefit of our own 
country, and more to their benefit, and most of all to the 
advantage of Africa. The American Colonization So- 
ciety is limited in its laudable work only by the want of 
funds. Africa now holds out every reasonable inducement 
to colonists ; a reward to industry ; freedom to all ; an 
abundance of good land ; schools and seminaries of learn- 
ing ; the privilege of being men and not " goods and 
chattels." And a free Government — : a Republic, opens 
wide her arms to welcome them to all the prerogatives 
of citizens and Christians. Perhaps, in the whole range 
of benevolent enterprise, we shall seek in vain for an- 
other cause, which promises more immediate success, or 
more lasting and extensive good, than the cause of the 
American Colonization Society. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

The Armenians— their history, number, location. Dispersion and preservation of the 
Armenians. The American Mission ; Asaad Shidiak ; exile of Hohannes. The great 
Revival. The Persecution, and what God has brought out of it. 

u It is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to 
them that trouble you?'' — 2 Thes. i. 6. 

It now only remains to take a survey of some of the 
ancient Christian churches : and should we discover in 
them, too, the workings of the same Divine Hand, pre- 
paring them to receive a pure gospel, it will strengthen 
the conviction that the dawn of a better day draws near. 
The simple existence of these churches is a matter of no 
little interest. They date back to a very early period in 
the annals of Christianity. They have, each in its day, 
nobly served the cause of truth — each cast her light over 
the surrounding darkness ; and each in turn, suffered an 
eclipse ; and now they seem once more emerging from 
the cloud which has so long overshadowed them, to send 
forth the beams of a new day. We shall now attempt to 
trace the Hand of God as at present engaged to reclaim 
and revivify those long waste and barren domains of 
nominal Christianity. We begin with 

The Armenians. The original country of the Arme- 
nians lies between the Mediterranean, the Black and 
the Caspian Seas. The Armenians are a very ancient 
race ; and as Mount Arrarat occupied a central position 
in ancient Armenia, and on this notable mount they still, 
in their dispersion, make their religious centre, (at Eck- 
miadzin on Mount Arrarat,) we may as well fancy their 
pedigree to reach back to the first peopling of the earth 
on the disembarkation from Noah's ark. Amidst all the 
revolutions of the Assyrian, Persian, Greek, and Roman 
empires, the Armenians remained a civilized and cultiva- 
ted people — early embraced Christianity — tradition says 

27 



314 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

Thaddeus, one of the seventy, introduced the gospel 
among them, and history responds to its very early intro- 
duction. The Armenian Church was found completely 
organized and established in the beginning of the fourth 
century. And before the middle of the sixth century it 
separated from the Greek Church. Though most per- 
severing in their attempts, the Papists have never been 
able to unite them generally or permanently to Rome, 
while the Turkish Government has constantly protected 
them against these wily invaders. 

Few nations have so varied a political history as the 
Armenians. During the respective existence of each of 
the four great monarchies, Armenia was frequently con- 
quered and re-conquered, ever clinging to her national 
life with undying tenacity. Since the middle of the six- 
teenth century, the Armenians have mostly remained 
subject to the Turks. Armenia has long since ceased to 
exist as a distinct nation. Like Poland in Europe, she 
has been divided among her more powerful neighbors, 
and her people dispersed into almost every part of Turkey 
and Persia, into Russia and India ; and not a few found 
a refuge and a lucrative business in Amsterdam, Ant- 
werp, London and Marseilles. Wherever found in their 
dispersion, they are an enterprising, frugal, industrious 
people. Their number in the Turkish empire is estima- 
ted at three millions ; one million in Russia ; and one 
hundred and fifty thousand are to be found in Constanti- 
nople and its suburbs. They are also numerous at 
Broosa, Smyrna, Trebizond and Erzeroom, in ancient 
Armenia ; at each of which points the American Board 
have missions acting in connection with the most impor- 
tant station, which is at Constantinople. 

The chief points of interest which demand attention as 
illustrating our present subject, are the dispersion and 
preservation of the Armenians ; the history of the late 
mission among them ; the late revival, and the consequent 
persecution. 

The Armenians, as I said, have long since ceased to 
exist as a distinct nation. Driven but from their coun- 
try by political revolutions, or enticed away by the 
desire of gain, they are to be found not only in every 



DISPERSION OF THE ARMENIANS. 315 

part of the Turkish empire, from the Caucassus to 
the Nile, and from the Danube to the Persian Gulf, 
but they are found in Koordistan, in different parts of 
Europe, in Persia and India ; and wherever found, they 
are generally an enterprising, influential and wealthy 
class of citizens. " In Turkey, they are the great pro- 
ducers, whether they till the land or engage in manu- 
factures. They are the bone and sinew of the land — at 
once the most useful and peaceful citizens. Were they 
removed from Turkey, the wealth and productive power 
of the country would be incalculably diminished." 

Already is Providence developing a design to be an- 
swered by this singular dispersion of the Armenians, 
worthy of infinite wisdom ; a design in reference to 
Mohammedan countries, not dissimilar, perhaps, to that 
to be achieved towards the whole world by the disper- 
sion of the Israelitish race. The Armenians are likely 
to prove the regenerators of the Turkish empire. This 
is a feature, we shall see, which has been peculiarly de- 
veloped in the late revival and the recent persecution. 
In no other way, perhaps, since the rise of Islamism, has 
the power of Christianity been so directly and effectually 
brought home to the Mohammedan mind. No accident 
or blind chance has dispersed the Armenians and pre- 
served them in their scattered condition. 

We shall discover more of this design as we proceed 
to the other particulars which claim our attention. 

The unwritten history of the Armenians is full of in- 
terest. The last quarter of a century has been to them 
the season of hope and preparation ; the return of spring 
after a long and dreary winter. We may date the es- 
tablishment of the American Mission among the Arme- 
nians in 1831, and the late spirit of inquiry somewhat 
earlier. We are unacquainted with the secondary causes 
which conduced to rouse the Armenian mind into the 
interesting state of activity which has existed during the 
last twenty-five years. The time had come for God to 
work ; the time for the great Head of the church to send 
his embassadors among this people. A mission was es- 
tablished just in time to meet the state of things which 
the spirit of God had prepared. 



316 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

It does not fall within the present plan to enter into 
the history of this interesting mission, but to present cer 
tain aspects and features of it, which shall exhibit the 
Hand of God as engaged to renovate a corrupt and long 
forsaken church, and, perhaps, to re-establish a long scat- 
tered and oppressed nation. The whole history of the 
mission is a beautiful delineation of Divine Providence. 

As early as 1833, the mission at Constantinople report 
that " many Armenians regard their national church as 
encumbered with numerous burdensome ceremonies not 
required by the Scriptures, and of no practical advantage, 
and sigh for something better, without knowing exactly 
what they want — as if the Lord were preparing them for 
a gracious visitation." There was at that period a 
singular moving of the stagnant waters ; a vague pre- 
sentiment of a coming change ; a manifest dissatisfaction 
and restiveness under the yoke of ecclesiastical bondage ; 
a mental activity that presaged emancipation ; doubt ; 
skepticism : a spirit of investigation ; some embryo 
breathings after liberty. The leaven was at w r ork, for the 
most part secretly, yet, as the event has shown, effectively. 
For the next three years the work of reform goes on 
steadily, and for the most part quietly. " There is now 
a growing spirit of inquiry, not only about the truth as a 
matter of speculation, but after salvation through the 
Lord Jesus Christ. No doubt much of this may be re- 
ferred to the agency of the Holy Spirit." The Arme- 
nian mind was roused to seek after truth. 

But here we should fail to honor the Hand of God in 
this extraordinary work, were we not to recur to some 
incidents of an earlier date. 

In the little village of Hardet, five miles from Bey- 
root, lived a widowed mother with five sons and three 
daughters. At the age of sixteen the third son enters the 
college at Ain Waka, passes through the prescribed 
course of study, and then spends two years in teaching 
theology to the monks of a convent near Hardet. He 
afterwards serves the Bishop of Beyroot as Scribe, as he 
also did at another time the Patriarch. Having occu- 
pied these conspicuous stations, he gained still more no- 
toriety by the manner he fell under suspicion and was 



PERSECUTION OF ASAAD SH1DIAK. 317 

dismissed from the Patriarch's service. But this was the 
incident which brought him to the notice of Mr. King, 
and in connection with the American Mission, and 
finally led to his conviction of the truth and his conver- 
sion to God. His candid, shrewd, powerful, comprehen- 
sive mind, could not resist the simple truths of the gospel 
when thus presented. He now became a victim of per- 
secution, merciless and unrelenting, by the Patriarch and 
his church. He is decoyed into the hands of his ene- 
mies — thrown into a dungeon, confined in chains, daily 
beaten, and here he languishes for years, firm in the faith 
and rich in hope, till the kind angel of death set him free. 
Thus lived and thus died the well known Asaad Shi- 
diak, a martyr and an ornament to the truth, and a gem 
in the diadem of the King. But he died not in vain. 
He was a remarkable illustration of the power of Chris- 
tianity. A great mind, once entangled in the meshes of 
superstition and error, now broke away, grasped the 
truth, and yielded it not with his expiring breath. His 
was a religion that endured in dungeons, chains and 
scourgings. He was a bright and shining light in a dark 
place. Though incarcerated in a dark and filthy prison, 
languishing for long and painful years in hopeless con- 
finement, his enemies found themselves altogether unable 
to suppress the power of his example. His light shone 
over all the countries of the Levant. An apostolic gos- 
pel, and an apostolic piety, had re-appeared on the ground 
where apostles and primitive Christians had once trod. 
A morning star has risen and cast its mild light over the 
dark cloud which had so long hung over all that portion 
of Christendom. The Armenians greatly shared in that 
light. They now saw how strongly the power of vital 
godliness, as illustrated in the life and sufferings of Asaad, 
contrasted with the dead formalism of their own church ; 
and perhaps no one cause has contributed more largely 
to rouse their dormant energies than the conversion, the 
Christian life and persecution of this eminent saint. His 
connection with the Bishop, and afterwards with the Pa- 
triarch, his eminence as a scholar, and his notoriety as a 
teacher, all contributed to the same end. And though his 
sun seemed to set prematurely and in a cloud, yet it cast 

27* 



318 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

back a light that illumined those dark lands. And per- 
haps, too, no one cause has contributed so largely to enlist 
the sympathies and prayers, and to secure the co-opera- 
tion of Christendom on behalf of that portion of the world. 

At a later date, (1840,) a similar impression was pro- 
duced by the exile from their country, for religion's sake, 
of Hohannes and others, among the Armenians. This 
created a deep sympathy throughout the Turkish empire, 
and did much to prepare the way for the separation of 
the " Evangelicals" from the national church, a measure 
since accomplished, and one fraught with immense good 
to the Armenian nation. 

The interest of the work continued to deepen, the 
leaven was at work ; the high ecclesiastical authorities 
from time to time interposing the arm of persecution. 
The seminary for boys was broken up. Yet this was 
but the signal for a wealthy Armenian to come forward 
and propose, and himself largely to patronize a school on 
a yet more extensive plan. This is but of a piece with 
the interpositions of Providence throughout the history 
of this mission. Every attempt at persecution (and they 
have been neither few nor small) has been overruled for 
the furtherance of the gospel. 

And we may remark in passing, that perhaps we shall 
nowhere find occasion more profoundly to admire the 
timely interpositions of Providence, than as they are seen 
in the protection afforded to the missions in Western 
Asia, or rather the protection afforded to the development 
of the reformation among the Armenians, as also among 
the Nestorians and the Arabs of Syria. It was a tender 
germ, sprung up in a forbidding soil, and assailed on every 
side by adverse influences. But God has watched over 
it as the apple of his eye. Nothing that ecclesiastical 
or political power could do, has been left undone, to crush 
this rising reformation. Yet it has gone on as surely and 
irresistibly as if nothing had attempted to oppose its pro- 
gress. Its whole history is interesting, but cannot be 
dwelt upon at present. 

We may date the commencement of what has been 
called the Great Revival among the Armenians in 1841. 
Yet this seems but the more decided and manifest ad- 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE REFORMATION. 319 

vance of a work which had been in progress for some 
years previous. Communications dated 1842, speak of 
the Hand of God as manifestly at work, preparing the 
Armenian mind to receive the gospel. " There is much, 
say they, to encourage us in the present aspect of things 
among the Armenians. The evidence of the Spirit's 
presence becomes more and more distinct." " Until 
lately, few could be found among the Armenians who had 
any idea other than that all who are baptized, and who 
attend to the outward forms of religion, are the true dis- 
ciples of Christ. Now, multitudes are awake to the dis- 
tinction between mere nominal Christians, and true, and 
the solemn inquiry, ' am I a Christian ?' is coming home 
to many hearts. Many minds are awakened, and some 
are on the utmost stretch of inquiry, dissatisfied with all 
former views and opinions, and eagerly seeking for some- 
thing solid to rest upon/' And speaking of the character 
of the converts as affording further evidence of a genuine 
work of the Spirit, they say, " There are native brethren 
here who are men of prayer and of the Holy Ghost, and 
who constitute a living, breathing Christianity in the 
midst of their church and community. Among them are 
men of influence, boldness and fervor, who would be pil- 
lars in any church at home." 

Two years later, the same writer says : " There is a 
deep and thorough work. Facts are continually coming 
to light, showing that the movement on the Armenian 
mind is far more general than was supposed. Though 
little appears on the surface, it is plain that an under- 
current in favor of the gospel is set in motion. The 
Spirit of the Lord is evidently moving on the Armenian 
mind." Hundreds and thousands of families would wel- 
come an evangelical teacher. " Many, evidently, are re- 
flecting on the errors of the church. The work is now 
pervading all classes of people." It has already been re- 
marked that many of these converts are from the more in- 
fluential classes — priests, vertabeds, bishops, bankers, 
merchants. Others have spoken of the spirituality of 
these converts ; their eagerness for truth ; their zeal in 
the work ; their solicitude for the spiritual welfare, and 
the temporal elevation of their countrymen. 



320 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

Nor is the work confined to Constantinople and the 
principal towns, or even the Turkish empire. " Where- 
ever Armenian mind is found, God has seemed to be 
speaking to it by his Spirit." Religious books and the 
Bible, connected oftentimes with little human instru- 
mentality, have been very prominent means of carrying 
forward the work. In no other feature, perhaps, has it 
been more obviously distinguished as a work of God, in- 
dicating the working of some mighty power on the Ar- 
menian mind. The avidity for books and the influence 
they are exerting, will appear in an extract from an ap- 
peal of the Mission to the American Tract Society : 

" The call for books increases continually. We can 
now advantageously dispose of hundreds of tracts, where, 
formerly, we could tens. A new desire is springing up 
in the hearts of the people for reading the Scriptures 
and tracts. Many whole families are furnished with a 
complete set of our books, and men, women and children 
read them with great interest, and anxiously wait for ev- 
ery new work. Hundreds, who never heard our voice, 
read them, and have their minds opened and their hearts 
impressed. 

" Our books are also finding their way to distant places. 
The good work at Nicomedia, you know, commenced 
from the reading of a single tract. The present state of 
the Armenian mind is such that it needs to be fed with 
spiritual food. God himself has given them the appetite. 
God is working here, and how much better to work with 
him than to be left to work alone. Never did we need 
your help as now. Old editions of our books are ex- 
hausted, new ones should be printed immediately. Many 
new works of different descriptions are this moment 
called for. The hopes of inquiring multitudes are defer- 
red at the very time when this state of mind is most crit- 
ical. And the danger is, God's spirit will be grieved 
away, and leave us to toil on alone, unblessed, because we 
refuse to be co-operators with Him." 

When on missionary tours among the Armenians, it is 
now not uncommon to meet persons for the first time, 
who have been converted by reading Bibles and books, 
which have been previously distributed. Little circles of 



THE GREAT REVIVAL. 321 

fifteen or twenty are found, who are wont to meet for 
prayer and the reading of the Scriptures. This is the 
first notice the missionary has of their existence. The 
leaven is everywhere at work, and we hope the whole 
lump will soon be leavened. " I feel confident in the as- 
surance," says Mr. Dwight, "that, with the blessing of 
God, there will be a certain and speedy triumph of the 
gospel here." 

How the good leaven is at work in different and dis- 
tant sections of the Armenian population, is beautifully 
illustrated by an incident which recently came to the 
knowledge of the mission. Mr. Van Lennep, of Constan- 
tinople, was on his way to Aleppo, whither he was going, 
in answer to an urgent request from certain evangelical 
Armenians at that place and at 'Aintab, in the same vicin- 
ity, for a spiritual teacher. He touched at Cyprus — 
spending a day at Larnika, where two Armenians were 
known to reside who had expressed an interest in the 
gospel, but not openly, for fear of their people. He in- 
quired after them with misgivings, fearing they had fallen 
back to the world. On finding one of them, he was joyfully 
surprised to learn that he had not only professed Christ 
openly and honestly, but through his zeal and labors, 
eighteen others had been brought to Christ. He gladly 
received the missionary, and took him to his little shop, 
where, he said, " they had been roused to their duty by 
the Spirit of God and his word ; that they immediately 
began to hold meetings, to which they invited their 
friends ; that God has most wonderfully blessed their ef- 
forts in silencing all objectors, and convincing all that 
God was among them of a truth." 

This solitary disciple, so honored as an instrument, is 
described as a hard-working, poor man, toiling in his lit- 
tle shop to support a numerous family, with his Bible by 
his side, which he always kept open while at work, his 
eye passing constantly from his work to his Bible, and 
from his Bible to his work. In that little shop, a work of 
grace was achieved of which angels might covet to be 
the instruments. Yet such are the things now witnessed 
in many a spot throughout the Armenian nation. The 
hand of the Lord is there. Of this we should feel a yet 



322 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

stronger assurance were we to follow Mr. Van Lennep to 
Aleppo and 'Aintab. At the latter place, especially, Mr. 
V. L. met a joyful reception from twenty-five praying 
souls, who had recently come to a knowledge of the truth. 
Two hundred and fifty others were fully convinced that 
the superstitions of their church were wrong, and ad- 
hered to the gospel only ; and nearly the whole Armenian 
population, (fifteen or sixteen hundred heads of families,) 
were convinced of the truth of evangelical doctrines. 
This work had, up to this time, been begun and carried 
forward almost entirely by the reading of the Scriptures 
and religious books. 

And here we would not avoid noticing a beautiful in- 
terposition of Providence in making the wrath and wick- 
edness of man to praise him: "When only a few had 
read the Scriptures, and had had their eyes opened to 
the errors of their church, a letter came from the Patri- 
arch at Constantinople, stating that, whereas a certain 
heresiarch, Vertannes by name, had left the capital to 
travel through Armenia, the faithful flock, all over the 
country, were warned against listening to his deceitful 
words. He had filled Constantinople with heresy; a 
great many priests and learned men, and the patriarch 
himself, had endeavored to convince him of his errors, 
but without success. All people were, therefore, warned 
against him. When this letter was read in the church, 
the evangelical men received the first information that 
there existed other people besides themselves, who ad- 
here to the pure gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And 
many people said : ' Why, if the patriarch and learned 
men have not succeeded in convincing this heresiarch, as 
they call him, how can they expect us to withstand his 
reasoning ? It must be that he is in the right/ There 
is another interesting fact. There was a certain priest, 
of great talents, but a drunkard, who, for reasons best 
known to himself, professed to be evangelical. He went 
to 'Aintab, and there preached the truth with such elo- 
quence and boldness that many were convinced by him. 
His real character was then discovered, and he was sent 
out of the place in disgrace ; but the fruits of his preach- 
ing remained." 



EXTENSIVE SYSTEM OF EDUCATION. 323 

After a lapse of fifteen years from the commencement 
of his missionary labors in Constantinople, Rev. Mr. 
Goodell, a time-honored servant in that favored field, 
looking back on the way the Lord had led them in their 
work, contrasts the present with the past. " Then ev- 
ery thing, in a moral sense, was without form and void. 
All direct access to the Armenians was closed. What a 
change ! Now is an open door, which no man is able to 
shut ; although the mightiest ones in the empire had once 
and again conspired together for the express purpose of 
closing it forever. Then, there was but one Protestant 
service in this great city on a Sabbath, and none during 
the week. Now there are thirteen on the Sabbath, and 
not less than twenty during the week." An extensive 
system of education has, during the same time, been 
brought into active operation — Lancasterian schools, 
high schools and seminaries ; the press has been made 
largely to subserve the cause of the truth, and an evan- 
gelical literature has been created. The elements of 
growth and progress have been generated and fostered 
under the benign influences of the mission, and a moral 
momentum has been created in the form of knowledge 
diffused ; mind enlightened ; experience gained ; books 
prepared and published, and souls converted and made 
the ready and efficient agents for farther progress ; which, 
in the hands of God, cannot fail to work out the regener- 
ation of the nation, and through that nation we may ex- 
pect the regeneration of the countries about the Levant. 
May we not hope the Armenians shall become the instru- 
ments of restoring the power of the gospel to the regions 
where, in ancient times, its triumphs were first wit- 
nessed ? 

We can in no way, perhaps, get a juster idea of the 
glorious rapidity with which God is bringing about a 
great moral change among the Armenians, and turning 
the hearts of the powers that be to favor them, than by 
transcribing a single paragraph of Mr. Schneider's jour- 
nal, when on a late tour to Ada Bazar, one of the places 
favored by the recent revival. He contrasts the .changes 
of but a single year, (1845 — 6,) the time which has 
elapsed )ince his previous visit : 



324 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

" Then, but few of them could call on me, and we could 
hardly have a prayer meeting; now, they could all assemble 
without fear. Then, as soon as my arrival was known, a 
plot was formed for my expulsion, and I was actually 
driven away, though I had a regular passport and trav- 
eling firman ; but now, no one even inquired for my pass- 
port, or thought of any forcible measure. Then no one 
dared be seen with me abroad ; now, the brethren walk 
with me in the most frequented part of the city with en- 
tire fearlessness. Then they were an unorganized body ; 
now they are gathered into a regularly constituted church, 
with officers and the regular administration of the ordi- 
nances. Then, no one could imagine what would be the 
destiny of the truth in this place ; but now, its foundations 
are deeply laid, and the prospects of its future extension 
are truly cheering." 

The mission is encouraged to believe that the " whole 
of the Armenian community are more or less pervaded 
by a special divine influence." " The door, says Mr. 
Dwight, " is wide open for the prosecution of missionary 
labor in its several departments, of training youth, circu- 
lating books, and preaching the gospel. At present there 
is a listening ear. If we are furnished with suitable 
means for seizing the advantages God is offering us, there 
is every reason to believe this whole people may soon be- 
come truly enlightened and evangelical Christians." 

Thus writes a hopeful missionary when he sees the hand 
of God working mightily to turn a nation from darkness 
to light. Nor had his far reaching mind overlooked the 
cloud that was gathering in the dark caverns of the foe. 
Oft he had heard the distant grumbling thunder, and oft 
seen the lightnings of wrathful persecution play about 
him and strike down one and another at his side. The 
cloud blackened and drew near, and he knew it was the 
hour and the power of darkness. For long ere this he 
had expressed himself thus : " We notice the wide-spread 
alarm and the stern hostility which the slightest success 
awakens, and we can scarcely be mistaken as to the in- 
fluence of future and more decided progress. We can- 
not hide from our eyes the approaching struggle, the gath- 
ering storm. We wish not to hasten it prematurely, but 



PERSECUTION OF THE ARMENIANS. 325 

we dare not try to avert it. It will come, must come, 
and ought to come. No one of our plans can be accom- 
plished without it, no one of our prayers heard, no one of 
our hopes realized. We pray that God may pour out his 
spirit on this people ; but that cannot be without pro- 
ducing instant commotion. We long for the conversion 
of sinners ; but this, soonest of all things, will turn up- 
side down this ecclesiastical world. There is no possible 
way of avoiding this but by concealing the light of the 
truth/' 

But they did not conceal the light of the truth. They 
prayed — God poured out his spirit — sinners were con- 
verted, and the " co/nmotion" did come, fierce, unrelent- 
ing, overpowering as the mad billows of the ocean ; and, 
but for the signal interposition of the Almighty Arm, it 
would have engulfed, in one undistinguished ruin, the 
whole evangelical effort among the Armenians, the sub- 
jects of it, the agents, and all who dared ally themselves 
with it. 

We have less to do with the details of this shameful 
outrage on all humanity, than with its providential fea- 
tures — the results which were providentially brought out 
of it. Let it suffice that it was a virulent, religious perse- 
cution, a veritable consequence of the gospel truth, which 
had been diffused among the Armenians, and of the prac- 
tical results which followed. The design was to sup- 
press the truth, and to crush the rising reformation. For 
this purpose the Patriarch forces on the evangelical por- 
tion of his church an act of conformity ; a creed pre- 
pared for their signatures, which was as redolent with 
Popery as any thing could be, not coined at the mint of the 
Vatican itself. Conformity or excommunication was the 
only alternative. Conform, they could not. They knew 
the truth; they had felt its power. They had con- 
sciences, and they could never again bow their necks to 
the yoke of spiritual bondage. They saw the storm gath- 
ering, and prepared themselves to meet it. The frightful 
act of excommunication was passed. The fearful and 
faint hearted went back and followed no more after the 
Man at Pilate's bar. Others met the thunderbolt like 
men, and, the first shock passed, they gathered up their 

28 



326 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

strength, leaning on the arm of their Beloved, and pre- 
pared for the conflict. 

The next day after the act of excommunication and 
anathema in the cathedral, began the work of violence 
and persecution. The anathematized were driven out of 
their shops and houses, and spoiled of their goods ; im- 
prisoned under false pretenses ; their debtors prevented 
from paying them their demands, and they forced to pay 
before the time ; permission to trade taken away, and 
themselves expelled from the trading companies ; cut off 
from all intercourse with their people, social, domestic, and 
commercial ; cast into prison and cruelly bastinadoed ; 
children turned out of doors by their parents ; the sick, 
the infirm and the aged dragged from their very beds into 
the streets, and left without a shelter ; water-carriers, who 
are Armenians, will neither bring them water, nor bakers, 
bread. Nothing but the want of power in the Patriarch 
was wanting to have consummated this persecution in all 
the virulence and madness of the bloodiest days of the 
Romish inquisition. 

But our business is with the hand of God in this 
strange affair. What has God brought out of it ? Al- 
ready have we seen enough to regard it as an essential 
and active element in the renovation of that rising na- 
tion. Doubtless we shall see more ; but already enough 
appears to kindle our admiration, and to vindicate the 
ways of God in this seemingly mysterious catastrophe. 

1. If not the most obvious, perhaps the most far-reach- 
ing result of the late persecution, is the practical recog- 
nition, the formal embodiment of the great principle of 
religious toleration throughout the Turkish empire. And 
this, too, in the very capital, immediately under the eyes 
of the Sultan himself, and of the highest dignitaries of the 
Mohammedan creed. We can scarcely attach too much 
importance to this event. It has relations to society, to 
the spread of the gospel in those countries, and to the 
whole civilized world, which it is scarcely possible for us to 
appreciate. " It is a vast step in the breaking up of the 
stagnant pool of Oriental mind and character, and cannot 
but be the precursor of great and wide-spread blessings." 
Yet how unexpectedly brought about. The Patriarch 



A NEW CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 327 

pronounces an anathema on the scripture-readers; a 
cruel persecution follows ; many a good man suffers ; 
yet his faith is tried, he is invigorated for the warfare 
which must sooner or later come. The Sublime Porte is 
moved by this unreasonable severity to interpose his 
mighty arm, and come to the help of the persecuted, suf- 
fering Armenians. The crescent protects the cross. 
The power of the state throws its arms around the Ar- 
menian converts, and saves them from the fury of their 
persecutors. The Moslem is still, and he always has been 
the sworn foe of a corrupt Christianity and a persecuting 
church. 

The Grand Vizier of the Turkish government, Reshed 
Pasha, and one of the most enlightened and liberal men 
in the empire, whom Providence had prepared by foreign 
travel and a residence at the most enlightened courts in 
Europe, for the part he would now have him act, acts a 
most important part in the whole affair. The Sultan re- 
cognizes the existence of the evangelical Armenians as a 
protestant church in the Turkish dominions — sends out 
an edict in favor of religious toleration, and the mission- 
aries and scripture-readers enjoy a measure of freedom 
unknown to them before. 

2. The persecution not only opened the way, but laid 
a necessity on the evangelical party to seek a new church 
organization. The time had come for God to emancipate 
his church from a most unnatural alliance, and this Pa- 
triarch seemed raised up for this very purpose. Like 
Pharaoh, he was allowed to persecute just so far, and no 
farther, than needful to show the impossibility of the 
evangelical party longer remaining in connection with 
his corrupt church. Thrust out from their cruel mother, 
they are now forced to seek an organization of their own, 
which they may, at once, fix on the New Testament 
basis ; a measure of immense moment to the successful 
progress of Christianity in the Armenian nation, and per- 
haps throughout the whole Turkish empire. Nothing 
could so effectually have brought about an event so much 
to be desired by the mission, and so much to be dreaded 
by the Patriarch, as the persecution in question. 

Hitherto the mission had avoided all interference with 



328 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

the church relationships of their converts, laboring to save 
souls rather than to sever men from a corrupt church. 
The difficulties attending the existing state of things were 
thickening upon them daily, and all human sagacity was 
found inadequate to devise a mode of relief. The lion 
seemed too fierce and mighty to beard, yet the lion him- 
self is left to open the way of escape to the lambs. The 
Patriarch pursues a course which leaves no alternative 
to the "evangelicals," but to organize a new church. 
Henceforward we meet little flocks gathered almost im- 
mediately, in Constantinople, Nicomedia, Ada Bazar, 
Trebizond, and Erzeroom ; the shield of the Turkish gov- 
ernment is around them, and the banners of God's love 
is over them. Constantinople is said to contain more 
than a hundred converts, who are regarded as suitable 
persons for church membership ; ninety-three are already 
inclosed in the fold ; one hundred and forty-three in the 
four churches. 

3. It has served to make evangelical Protestantism and 
the gospel known to the Turks, and given the world a fresh 
illustration of the power and vitality of the Christian re- 
ligion. Nothing, perhaps, could have brought the work 
of evangelism so conspicuously and forcibly home to the 
Turkish mind. The Turks had seen Christianity before ; 
but it was a Christianity of form — the body, the gilded 
corpse, and not the soul. Now the vital godliness of the 
persecuted is brought into vivid contrast with the for- 
malism of the oriental churches ; and to whom would not 
such a contrast bring conviction ? " The aspect of the 
two parties," says an eye witness, " was, and is still one 
of great moral sublimity. On the one side all the power, 
influence, wealth and numbers of a great nation ; on the 
other, fewness, feebleness and poverty. On the one side 
were age, wisdom, experience, cunning, craft, dissimula- 
tion ; on the other, youth, inexperience, and utter sim- 
plicity. On the one side stood up the whole Armenian 
hierarchy, excited to the utmost pitch of hate and fury, 
and arrayed by all the sacredness of antiquity, and all the 
authority of the nation, and with the panoply of civil and 
ecclesiastical despotism ; on the other was neither Urim 
or Thummim, neither tabernacle nor ark, neither priest- 



APOSTOLIC CHRISTIANITY. 329 

hood nor church; nothing sacred, nothing venerable, 
nothing to inspire terror, nothing to attract notice, nothing 
outward to encourage the least hope of success. On the 
one side were cunning and falsehood, and blasphemy, the 
thunder of anathemas, the threatenings of annihilation, 
the cutting off of bread and water, the driving out of fam- 
ilies and individuals from their inheritance and their 
homes, from their shops and their business ; the forcible 
wresting from them of their necessary protective papers, 
and thus exposing them, without the possibility of redress, 
to all the insults and frauds of the most unprincipled and 
villainous, to a Turkish, filthy prison. On the other side 
sat patience and meekness, peace and truth. There was 
joy in tribulation. There was the voice of prayer and 
praise. The New Testament was in their hands, and all 
its blessed promises were in their hearts. Their song of 
praise went up like the sound of many waters, and re- 
minded me of the singing of the ancient Bohemian 
brethren amidst the raging fires of persecution."* 

It was the fire of persecution, but a fire that cast abroad 
and throughout the whole Turkish empire the bright ra- 
diance of divine truth. " I have known many cases," 
says Mr. Dwight, " in which Turks, high in office, have 
expressed their sympathy with our brethren, and say that 
their way was the way of truth." And another says : 
" The Turks have heard and learnt more of the gospel the 
last year than in all their lives before." 

4. This persecution has served to give the world, after 
the lapse of eighteen centuries, a fresh example of apos- 
tolic Christianity. It has shown the spirit of primitive 
Christians revived in the regions where it had so long 
appeared to be extinct. Martyrs, bold, meek, enduring 
to the end, have again periled all things, and not counted 
their lives dear in defence of the religion of calvary. The 
thunder and the storm of persecution, while they have 
left behind some marks of desolation, have been followed 
by a fresh and luxuriant growth of piety, all the deeper, 
all the purer for the violence of the tempest. For there 
was reviving rain and genial heat amidst the strifes of the 

• Rev. Mr. Goodell, Constantinople, 

28* 



330 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

tornado. It is a resuscitation of primitive piety, fraught 
with rich blessings to the Armenian nation, to the Turkish 
empire, and to the whole Christian world. It is the spirit 
revived, which nerved the soul of Paul, which brought 
apostles to a glorious martyrdom, which filled with joy 
and praise a noble company of martyrs. It is a delight- 
ful presage of better days to the church of the living God. 
The spirit of her martyrs shall live again ; the souls of 
them that were slain for the word of God, shall rise and 
flourish again on the earth. It inspires with hope the 
awakening energies of the corrupt and formal churches 
of the East ; it speaks encouragement to the benevolent 
enterprise of Christendom. It predicts the day as near 
when the kingdom and the greatness of the kingdom shall 
be given to the saints of the Most High. 

5. The late persecution is a witness to the success of 
our mission to the Armenians. The outbreak is but an 
expression of hostility to the truth — a fearful apprehen- 
sion that the truth shall prevail and undermine the co- 
lossal fabric of error and superstition, as found embodied 
in a formal, corrupt church. The Patriarch and the high 
dignitaries of the church see their craft to be in danger, 
and they have made one desperate struggle to save the 
falling Babylon. It is an unwilling concession that truth 
is mighty — that it is very generally diffused — that it has 
taken deep hold of the Armenian mind, and that it is 
likely to prevail — a stone from the sling of David against 
the head of Goliath. 

It has done much, too, to create a native agency among 
the Armenians, and thus to favor the work of evangeliza- 
tion. It has given character, and vigor, and zeal to the 
native converts. It has greatly increased their moral 
power. It has assured them that God is at work with 
them and for them. It has inspired the mission with 
fresh confidence and courage. It has, as in the days of the 
persecution about Stephen, scattered abroad many who 
go everywhere preaching the gospel. It has disburdened 
the rising seminary at Bebeck of a class of ungodly youth, 
from whom the mission had little hope of future useful- 
ness, and has filled their places with a greater number of 
pious, promising young men, who, being by the persecu- 



PROTESTANT EMBASSADORS. 331 

tion thrown out of the secular employments to which they 
seemed destined, were at once brought into the seminary, 
where they are now preparing to be the pastors of the 
newly organized churches, or missionaries to their be- 
nighted countrymen. 

6. It has created a common sympathy among the evan- 
gelical Armenians themselves, binding them together by 
the ties of a common brotherhood ; and it has created a 
common sympathy in their behalf throughout Christen- 
dom. And not only so, but locality and definiteness are 
now given to the prayers and benefactions of those who 
may come to their aid in this time of need. 

And it would here be overlooking a very essential 
providential feature in this wonderful work, not to allude, 
at least, to the care and skill with which God has provided 
his agents wherewith to carry it forward. To say nothing 
of the peculiar fitness of the missionaries whom he has, 
with much care and training, raised up and stationed 
there for such a time as this, (and we should, perhaps, in 
vain look the world over to find the same number of men 
elsewhere, so beautifully adapted to act in such circum- 
stances,) we cannot too profoundly admire the providence 
that brought together in the Turkish empire, at that par- 
ticular time, such men as Sir Stratford Canning, English 
embassador, Mr. Le Coq, Prussian embassador, Mr. Carr, 
American minister, and Mr. Brown, American Charge d ? 
Affaires in the absence of Mr. Carr ; and perhaps more 
especially than all others, Reshid Pasha, the liberal and 
enlightened Prime Minister of the Turkish Government. 
Rarely do we meet a happier combination of talent, firm- 
ness, Christian decision, and enlightened tolerance, than 
Providence had thus concentrated in the capital of the 
Turkish empire, to be used at this very crisis. And the 
Hand that provided them and placed them there, has not 
failed, effectually, to use them for the protection and es- 
tablishment of his cause. 

We may now dismiss the Armenians, with the delight- 
ful reflection that the hand of the Lord is engaged on their 
behalf. He has, in a remarkable manner, prepared them 
to receive the gospel. He has raised up a strong native 
agency by which to carry forward among them the work 



332 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

of evangelization — has created an evangelical literature — 
accumulated vast resources in the form of printed matter, 
Bibles and religious books — brought into being an efficient 
system of education — provided an active mass of intelli- 
gent, sanctified mind for the future progress of the work ; 
and given them protection under the strong arm of the 
Turkish Government, endorsed and guaranteed by the 
organs of the three principal Protestant nations. 

With such elements of progress — with such prepara- 
tions for advancement, have we not the most substantial 
grounds for the expectation that the work of Christianiza- 
tion in that land shall advance, till not only the Armenian 
nation, but many tribes and kindreds in Western Asia 
shall be inclosed in the fold of the Great Shepherd. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



The Jews . Providential features of their present condition, indicating their prepared- 
ness to receive the Gospel. 

" And as I prophecied, there vms a noise , and behold a shaking ."— 
Ezekiel, xxxvii. 7. 

We shall next turn to the Jews, and see what an ever 
active Providence is doing to prepare them for restora- 
tion to the land of their fathers, but more especially for a 
return to them of the favor of their God. The Jews have 
a history of intense interest. God honored them from 
their beginning — granted them a rich and beautiful coun- 
try — conducted them thither by his own strong arm, sig- 
nalizing the whole way by monuments of his goodness — 
preserved them two thousand years amidst the commo- 
tions of a most revolutionary period — made them the de- 
positaries of his grace for the world — Zion, his earthly 
temple, the place of the promises, the covenants, the living 



Israel's afflictions. 333 

oracles. And he has made Israel the hey to empire. 
Kingdoms rose and fell, prospered and decayed, according 
to the good pleasure of God as touching Israel. 

And the great drama is yet in progress. The prelude 
and some preliminary scenes have been acted ; a long and 
melancholy interlude has interposed, and now the shadows, 
which coming events cast before them, indicate the ter- 
mination of Israel's afflictions, and the opening of another 
scene more resplendent in promised glory and Divine 
munificence than any preceding one. 

The day of Israel's visitation came. The crown is 
taken from his head; the priestly robes fall from his 
shoulders ; the sceptre departs from Judah, and he be- 
comes as ignominious, weak and poor, as he had been 
honored, rich and powerful. Not a jot or tittle of all the 
evil spoken against Israel shall go unfulfilled. Their mis- 
eries begun with their rejection and crucifixion of the 
Messiah. When they signed his death-warrant, they 
signed the death-warrant of their nation. When the earth 
quaked, and the sun hid his head, their nation was shaken 
to its centre, and the sun of their political existence was 
covered in sackcloth. When they cried, " His blood be 
on us and on our children," they put to their lips the cup 
of the wine of the wrath of God, poured out without 
mixture. 

But a brighter day is dawning. The page of Provi- 
dence is at this moment sublimely interesting in reference 
to the seed of Abraham. Every year brightens the signs 
that the time to favor Zion is near. The spirit of God 
is moving on the face of her dark waters. An angel of 
mercy is seen walking on the troubled sea of Israel's 
afflictions, saying, " peace, be still." 

" These bones are the whole house of Israel." " They 
are very many and very dry" — indicating the extremely 
depressed and hopeless state of Israel ; hopeless in the 
estimation of those who would come to their relief, and 
hopeless in their own estimation. The " noise," I ap- 
prehend, means the two-fold proclamation of the Chris- 
tian church and of Christian nations, the one proclaiming 
the truth as it is in Jesus, the other proclaiming by va- 
rious legislative acts and movements, the removal of their 



334 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

civil disabilities, thus creating an interest and sympathy 
on their behalf. While " the shaking," on the other hand, 
refers to a movement among the Jews themselves — a stir 
in their own camp. The " noise" and the " shaking" are 
related as cause and effect. For the civil disabilities of 
the Jews, and the neglect and contempt of nominal 
Christianity, have been the most formidable obstacles to 
their reception of the gospel. 

I may range what I shall say on the providential 
features of the present condition of the Jews, as indica- 
ting a preparation on their part to receive the religion of 
the Cross under the following heads : 

1. There is much at present in their civil condition, 
that indicates the returning favor of Heaven. Nothing 
decisive or permanent was done to remove the disabili- 
ties of the Jews till the beginning of the present century. 
The first recognition that the Jews had rights, was made 
in 1806, by Napoleon Bonaparte.* The German states, 
however, led the way in actually conferring on them the 
rights of citizens, and disenthralling them from the untold, 
unpitied wrongs of eighteen centuries. Other states of 
continental Europe begun to extend to them the reluc- 
tant hand of fellowship. In England, a single ray of light 
darted above their horizon, but was soon extinguished. 
An act passed in Parliament, (1753,) in favor of Jewish 
emancipation, but was repealed the next year ; and not 
till the year 1830, was the question renewed, and then 
only to be lost. Yet in the same year a bill in their favor 
was carried in France. 

Within the last few years, indeed, successful attempts 
have, from time to time, been made to bring relief to the 
wronged and oppressed Jew. Amid recent commotions 
in the East, the Jews in Turkey, Egypt, Arabia and 

* We may take the following as a specimen of the cruel intolerance of the Romish 
Church against the Jews : Speaking of the Jews in the twelfth century, Berk says, they 
were special objects of hatred during the ceremonies of Easter week. The misguided 
multitude thought they were doing a service to the Redeemer, whose sufferings they 
then commemorated, by persecuting the descendants of those who had nailed him to 
the cross. Thus, at Beziers. every year, on Palm Sunday, the Bishop mounted the pul- 
pit of the Cathedral, and addressed the people to the following effect: "You have 
among you, my brethren, the descendants of the impious wretches who crucified the 
Lord Jesus Christ, whose passion we are to commemorate. Show yourselves anima- 
ted with the spirit of your ancestors ; arm yourselves with stones ; assail the Jews 
with them ; and thus, as far as in you lies, revenge the sufferings of that Saviour who 
redeemed you with his own blood." 



JEWISH EMANCIPATION. 335 

Algiers, have been recognized as citizens, and their life, 
property and honor protected. In Greece, in the islands 
of the Indian Archipelago — in South America and the 
United States, they have flourishing synagogues and 
schools enjoying governmental protection. In Norway, 
the prohibition that Jews enter the kingdom is removed. 
In Denmark a bill has been lately introduced in favor of 
Jewish emancipation. In England and Holland, the 
Jews are exciting unwonted interest. In France, Prus- 
sia, Austria and the German States, restrictions have 
been taken off; Jews are allowed to purchase estates, 
invest funds, prosecute education ; are eligible to office, 
and allowed the rights of citizens. The Senate and 
Council of Hamburg have recently passed an act in favor 
of the Jews. And even in the Pope's domains, and in 
Russia, the Jews have hope. Throughout Tuscany, they 
enjoy perfect liberty, and partially so in Piedmont. 

Political changes are every year taking place in the 
East, which augur well for the Jews ; and present ap- 
pearances favor the expectation that further changes will 
soon so dispose of the nations about Palestine, that the 
scattered remnants of Israel may be restored to their 
native land. 

The late projects of two eminent European Jews, 
Rothschild and Sir Moses Montefiore, the first to purchase 
Jerusalem and its environs, as a refuge and home to all 
Jews, wishing to return to a land consecrated by a thou- 
sand sacred associations ; and the other to secure by a 
sort of lease, the possession of several towns and villages, 
held sacred by the Jews, for the purpose of colonizing 
there the children of Israel, may indicate one means by 
which Israel may be reinstated into more than his original 
civil privileges. Sir Moses is at this time on a mission 
to St. Petersburgh, to negotiate with the great Autocrat 
of the North, that the Jews of Russia, against whom a 
barbarous edict had been issued, should be permitted 
peaceably to emigrate. Sir Moses writes that " he has 
been graciously received by the Emperor," who has 
favored his wishes to visit his brethren of the dispersion 
in Russia, and consented to the emigration of ten thou- 
sand to Palestine, or some other settlement which Sir 



HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 



Moses may fix upon. The British Government recently 
appointed a Consular Agent to be stationed at Jerusalem, 
with instructions that he should, to the utmost of his 
power, afford protection to the Jews. The Emperor of 
Austria has recently issued two ordinances in favor of the 
Israelites, conferring on them unwonted privileges. 

2. Corresponding with the great political movement in 
behalf of the Jews, is an interest and sympathy on the part 
of the Christian church. Nothing, perhaps, more than 
this, has quickened into life, in many a Jewish bosom, a 
generous feeling towards Christianity. The time was, 
and not remote, when the poor Jew was kept without the 
pale of Christian sympathy. He was despised and ab- 
horred of all men — had no home among the nations, no 
pity from the church. In his miserable wanderings he 
had strayed into those dark and frigid regions of humanity 
on which the genial rays of human kindness never shine. 
But they that were afar off are brought near. The 
partition wall is broken down — the alienations of centu- 
ries removed. A generous warmth in the heart of the 
Christian church is winning back the long exiled sons of 
Israel. 

It is but a few years since the church evinced any dis- 
tinctive interest in behalf of the Jews. Prayers were 
offered of old, but they were prayers without charity. 
There was faith, but it was faith without works. It is a 
matter of just marvel that the early Christians, in their 
laudable zeal to spread the gospel, so soon overlooked the 
Jews. After the death of the apostles and their imme- 
diate disciples, the poor Jew could say, " no one careth 
for my soul/' Nor did the glorious revival of the sixteenth 
century bring pity or relief to afflicted Israel. 

But we live in a day of better promises. The daughter 
— the daughter-in-law rather, the adopted child, is beckon- 
ing the exiled mother to return to the bosom of their 
common father's love, that they may sit together in 
heavenly places, the first last, and the last first. 

Ecclesiastical bodies now discuss and pass resolutions 
in behalf of the Jews. The press espouses their cause. 
Kings, and high dignitaries of the church, lend their great 
influence. The royal patronage of the King of Prussia 



MISSION ON MOUNT ZION. 337 

deserves particular regard. The Archbishop of Canter- 
bury, is Patron of the London Society, and the Bishops 
of London and York, Vice Patrons. " No meetings in 
England are more crowded, or excite more interest, than 
meetings in behalf of the Jews." 

It is this feeling which has called into existence socie- 
ties for the evangelization of the Jews. The most 
efficient is the London Society. This has been in oper- 
ation near forty years ; has thirty stations, in France, 
England, Holland, Germany, Poland, Prussia, and among 
the Spanish Jews about the Mediterranean ; employs 
eighty missionaries, forty-five of whom are of the house 
of Israel. 

An interesting result of this society is the establish- 
ment of a mission on Mount Zion. This mission has done 
much to direct the attention of the Jews in all parts of 
the world towards Jerusalem and their own best interest. 
" The church and bishop at Jerusalem, says one, kindles 
the hope of the approaching revival of the Jewish church.'* 

Jerusalem may now, again, be regarded as the centre 
of the Jewish nation. Any influence exerted here will 
tell on the whole Jewish world. For here are Jews, 
resident or visitors, "out of every nation under heaven." 
And not only this, but the Jewish Rabbis of Jerusalem 
maintain a constant communication with their brethren in 
all parts of the world. These two facts deserve regard 
in all our plans for the conversion of Israel. 

Another fact worthy of notice is, that, for the first 
time since the Babylonish captivity, the Hebrew lan- 
guage, in its ancient purity, is again a language of con- 
versation in Jerusalem. 

However manifested, the fact is obvious, that Christen- 
dom, now as by a common impulse, is beginning to feel 
a deep and solemn interest and sympathy for her elder 
and long exiled sister. We have seen how this interest 
is manifested. A few other facts will show how readily 
the sympathy of Christian nations can be drawn out, if 
the arm of persecution be stretched out against the Jew. 

I refer to the late barbarous persecution of the Jews at 
Rhodes and Damascus, (1840.) The details of this atro- 
cious outrage I need not repeat. It was as if a demon 

29 



338 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

of the dark ages, suddenly roused from his long slumber, 
had re-appeared on the earth, and, unmindful of the 
age, boldly and bloodily recommenced his old work. 
Scarcely has the black history of persecution a blacker 
page than the brief one to which' I here allude. Atroci- 
ties hardly paralleled in the foulest days of the Inquisi- 
tion, are perpetrated in the nineteenth century — in the 
light of this enlightened age — in the presence and in spite 
of the predominant influence of Europe and America. 

Those tragic scenes here supply, to all who love to 
watch the varying star of Jacob, an instructive lesson, 
and one much to our present purpose, as auguring well 
for Israel : It is the simultaneous and deep sympathy ex- 
cited in behalf of the sufferers of Rhodes and Damascus. 
Fifty years ago every Jew in the Turkish empire might 
have been slaughtered, and no great sensation produced 
anywhere. But now, so changed is public feeling to- 
wards the Jews, let the foot of oppression attempt to 
crush them, or the bloody mouth of persecution to devour 
them, and ten thousand voices are raised in one general 
remonstrance. Meetings are held in London, Liverpool, 
New York, Philadelphia, Constantinople ; the most cor- 
dial sympathy expressed, prayers offered to Israel's God 
for their relief, and petitions sent to the several govern- 
ments of Europe and the United States, that these gov- 
ernments would make it the duty of their respective 
Consular Agents in the East, to urge on the Pacha of 
Egypt the necessity of treating the Jews in Damascus 
and throughout his dominions as men who have rights 
like his other subjects. And what is more, these govern- 
ments listened to such petitions, and instructed their 
agents accordingly ; and so promptly, as to indicate a 
public sentiment against persecution, strong enough to 
prevent the recurrence in our world of another such 
scene. 

Thus are the Jews learning, for the first time since 
apostolic Christianity, that the Christian church has a 
heart, which can be touched in pity for the poor exiles of 
Israel ; yea, that the world, too, feel its cold heart begin 
to warm with indignation, if, in these latter days, upstart 
vandalism dare lay its uncircumcised hand on earth's 



SHAKING AMONG THE JEWS. 339 

nobility. Too long has the poor Jew had but too much 
reason to regard Christianity either as idolatry towards 
God, or contempt, cruelty and outrage towards the house 
of Israel. The "pillar of cloud and of fire/' has long 
turned its dark side towards them, and God has treated 
them as aliens and enemies ; and now that the light side 
is beginning to shine on them, we may indulge the de- 
lightful hope that God's former love is about to return. 

There is a " noise," a sound like the low murmuring of 
many waters, distant, distinct, and gathering strength 
with every new commotion, now pervading the jvhole 
Gentile world, in behalf of the seed of Abraham. It is 
the precursor — it is to a considerable extent the cause of 
the present movement on the Jewish mind. Though it- 
self not a feature, directly, of the Jewish mind, it is a 
feature of our times, which has had much to do in making 
the Jewish mind what it now is in its favorable disposi- 
tions towards Christianity. 

3. The " shaking" among the Jews themselves. Re- 
cent religious and intellectual movements among them 
indicate that the day of their redemption is near. The 
Jewish mind is everywhere awake. Never was there 
among them such a spirit of inquiry. A few facts will 
illustrate : 

From a communication by the Rev. Mr. Goodell, Con- 
stantinople, it appears that the Jews in the metropolis of 
the Turkish empire are agitated by an unusual spirit of 
religious inquiry. Some are anxiously looking for the 
speedy restoration of their nation to their beloved Pales- 
tine ; others expect the immediate advent of the Messiah ; 
others doubt whether he be not already come. " The 
chief Rabbis had led them to expect that, according to 
their books, the Messiah must absolutely appear during 
the year 1840. A learned Jew occasionally visits me, 
and almost the first, and sometimes the very first ques- 
tion I ask him is, Has he come ?" " Not yet/' has always 
been his reply, till his last visit, when, laying nis hand on 
his heart, he said, in a low and solemn tone, " If you ask 
me, I say he has come ; and if you will show me a safe 
place, I will bring you ten thousand Jews to-morrow who 
will make the same confession.' 5 I replied, " the apostles 



340 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

and prophets had no safe place shown them to confess 
truth in, but they made the confession in the face of 
stripes, imprisonments, and death." 

But what more particularly demands attention here, 
as a proof of the awakening energies of the Jews, are the 
ruBLic discussions among them in regard to the Talmud 
and Rabbinical traditions. 

The Talmud is a medley of traditions, claimed by the 
Rabbins, (the modern Pharisees,) to be the oral law, 
given through Moses, and of equal authority with the 
written law, not unlike the traditions of the Romish 
Church. Bating a sparse sprinkling of good throughout, 
the Talmud is a mass of crude fables, superstitions, and 
absurdities. From the bondage of this yoke the Jewish 
mind is laboring to be free. A large class of Jews, prin- 
cipally in Germany, called the Reformed, have taken 
strong ground against the Talmud. Conventions of 
Rabbis and learned men have from time to time been 
held, to discuss the authority of the Talmud, the expedi- 
ency of an alteration of the liturgy, a reform of the ritual, 
and a new translation of the Scriptures. 

Convince the Jews that the oral law is only of human 
authority, and the colossus of modern Judaism will fall 
to the ground. The question, therefore, before the Jew- 
ish mind is nothing less than this : What is the basis of 
our religion, the word of God, or the commandments of 
men ? Precisely the question which divides the Protes- 
tant and the Romish churches. 

British Jews have already adopted a Prayer Book which 
is free from all references to the oral law. 

Leading Jewish writers, also, freely discuss topics like 
these : the present position, character, and privileges of 
the Jews, past and present, their degradation, hopes, and 
fears. 

Another question of much practical importance, and 
much discussed, is, Is it necessary that Israelitish worship 
should be conducted in the Hebrew language ? 

In some places, the Reformed Jews have organized 
societies, binding themselves to the non-observance of 
Rabbinical rites and injunctions. They regard circum- 
cision as non-essential, and the promise of the Messiah 



JEWISH MIND ROUSED. 341 

as fulfilled. In Gallicia, there is a secret society, the ob- 
ject of which is to undermine the authority of the Tal- 
mud, and the whole fabric of Judaism. The Scottish 
deputation to Palestine found the influence of this society 
to be working a secret, though powerful influence, among 
the Jews in the southern provinces of Russia. " The 
field," they say, " in Moldavia and Walachia, is ripe for 
the harvest. The Jews are in a most interesting state. 
Many here have their confidence in the Talmud com- 
pletely shaken." Of their interview with the Jews of 
Jassy, the capital of Moldavia, they say : " All had an 
open ear to our statements of the truth." 

In France, Germany, and Poland, there is a very 
general abandonment of Rabbinism. In England and 
Holland the Jews are catching the spirit of life which is 
abroad on the stagnant waters of Judaism. In Berlin, 
the capital of Prussia, a writer says, " there is an extraor- 
dinary stir among the dry bones of Israel. The time has 
come when they themselves feel dissatisfied with the 
Rabbinical and fanatical systems of Judaism." A Jewish 
preacher recently said in a public discourse : " It is, alas ! 
too true, that our religion does not answer what God had 
in view — which is not, however," says he, " the fault of 
Judaism, but of the Jews. Our state is certainly lament- 
able." " Within the last few years," says another, " every 
event connected with the Jewish people has assumed an 
intense interest and importance." 

We may, then, well credit the preacher in a Jewish 
synagogue in London, who recently said : " We are 
happily emerging from the darkness into which persecu- 
tions of unparalleled intensity and duration had banished 
us. Our domestic, social, and political life is assuming a 
brightness, which we feel assured will become more and 
more cheering." Or, Lord Ashley, who in a late meeting 
of the Jews' Society in London, said : " At no time has 
the horizon been so bright for the Jewish people. At no 
time prophecy so near its fulfillment. A year ago no 
imagination was lively enough to conceive one-tenth of 
what we have heard this day." 

In Smyrna, " there is great freedom of inquiry among 
the Jews." Many families admit Jesus of Nazareth to 

29* 



342 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

be the Messiah, yet retain some national rites. They 
read the New Testament, are weary of the bondage of 
the Rabbis, and give an intellectual assent to Christianity. 
Pointing to a Romish priest, a Jew says : " Our Rabbis 
and these priests are alike impostors." The late Prussian 
Embassador at the court of Rome, declared that " through- 
out the vast dominions of Germany and Poland, there is 
a general movement of inquiry, and a longing expectation 
abroad, that something will take place to restore them to the 
land of their fathers." Rev. T. Grimshawe says, " A 
vast number of Jews are preparing to emigrate from 
Germany and Poland to settle in Palestine ; while 
throughout the whole of Europe and Asia, a general ex- 
pectation is raised among them that the time of their 
deliverance is drawing near. Throughout Italy, the 
same uneasiness and expectation may be observed." 

This movement of the Jews towards Palestine, whatever 
may be thought of it as an evidence of a literal restora- 
tion, is at least indicative of a state of mind not to be 
overlooked in our present discussion. 

In Prussian Poland, especially in the Grand Duchy of 
Posen, the Scottish deputation found everywhere "an 
open door for preaching the word to the Jews ;" " the 
state of the Jewish mind decidedly favorable to mission- 
ary efforts ;" " patient to listen to the exposition of the 
word ;" and "parents manifesting an extraordinary, un- 
suspecting readiness to send their children to Christian 
schools." " Twelve years ago," say two indefatigable 
missionaries in this province, " the Jews would not come 
near a Christian church, nor converse on matters per- 
taining to salvation; now they seem rationally con- 
vinced that Judaism is false, and that Christianity may 
be true." 

Indeed, a spirit of inquiry is abroad ; and multitudes 
w T ho have all their lives long lain buried beneath the rub- 
bish of modern Judaism, are beginning to emerge. The 
long and dreary winter of Jacob's captivity seems to be 
nearly passed. The genial sun of the divine favor is 
beginning again to shine, and to melt from their hearts 
the ice of ages. And soon we may expect the sons and 



SYMPTOMS OF RENOVATION. 343 

daughters of Judah will take their harps from the willows, 
and in the sweet lays of their own poet, sing, 

" ho, the winter is passed, and the rain is over and gone, 
The flowers appear on the earth, 
The time of the singing of birds is come, 
And the voice of the turtle is heard in the land." 

Symptoms of ever- welcome spring appear — marks of 
resuscitation among the dry bones of Judah. And each 
revolving year shall witness new developments of the 
rising star of Jacob, till the kingdom shall be restored to 
David, and Judah shall again wear the crown, and bear 
the sceptre, and Jerusalem become a joy and praise in 
all the earth. 

But it must not be supposed that this mental and 
moral revolution has been the work of a day. The 
leaven of reform has been at work at least for a century. 
Moses Mendelsohn gave the first impulse to Jewish mind 
in modern days. Himself an eminent proficient in liter- 
ature and science, he infused his spirit into the minds of 
his countrymen. He sapped the foundations of Jewish 
bigotry ; and what is more, struck the death-blow to that 
corrupt, tyrannical system of Talmudism, the Popery of 
Judaism, which has done more than all other causes to 
debase the Jewish mind. 

Nothing, perhaps, more distinctly betokens the dawn 
of a brighter day for Israel, than the late efforts and im- 
provements in the education of their youth. 

In concluding this head I cannot forbear quoting the 
very valuable testimony of the Rev. Mr. Bellson, a con- 
verted Jew and missionary in Posen, and late candidate 
for the Bishopric in Jerusalem : 

" I am more than ever," says he, " impressed, that the 
Jews are hastening to a great crisis. It must be evident 
to any common observer, there is a great movement 
among them. This wonderful people, who for eighteen 
hundred years remained unaltered, have undergone a 
marvelous revolution within the last forty years, espe- 
cially within the last twenty. They are in a transition 
state. Thousands, convicted of the hollowness and rot- 
tenness of Rabbinism, and, therefore, thrown it off, feel a 



344 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

vacuum in their souls, which Christian truth alone can 
fill. The Talmud is sinking fast, and its giving up the 
ghost cannot be far off." 

Or, in the words of another intelligent writer, " the 
Jews are entering upon a. new era in their history ; their 
position is becoming every day more interesting to the 
missionary, the student of prophecy, and the politician," 
There is, indeed, a " shaking" among the dry bones, and 
the sinews and flesh come upon them and the skin. And, 
moreover, the spirit from the four winds is breathing on 
these slain, and they are beginning to live. 

4. Hence our next position : the Jews as disposed to 
receive the Gospel, and the success of Christian missions 
among them. 

A few facts here will confirm what has been said 
already, and show the present condition of the Jews to 
be one of delightful interest. 

" A surprising change," says another resident in Con- 
stantinople, "has taken place among the Jews of this 
city. Instead of persecuting or slaying those who show 
inclination to Christianity, or giving them a hint to re- 
move from the city, the chief Rabbi receives visits from 
Mr. Schaffeler, the Jewish missionary, corresponds with 
him ; commends his translation of the Old Testament into 
Hebrew Spanish, and urges it on the people. Constan- 
tinople contains from sixty to eighty thousand Jews. 

In Germany the movement is mighty and onward ; the 
Lord seems everywhere making way to execute his work 
among his people Israel — stirring up the hearts of many 
to search the Scriptures and seek salvation. The young 
men in the universities speak publicly and boldly on 
Jewish subjects. Whereas, twenty years ago, they were 
ashamed to be even known as Jews. In Frankfort, the 
missionaries are surrounded from morning till evening by 
multitudes of Jews, opening to them the Scriptures, and 
alledging that Christ must needs have suffered and risen 
again from the dead. A Jew in Russia came with his 
wife four hundred miles to receive baptism. Two dif- 
ferent deputations come to the mission at Warsaw to in- 
quire and get an "exact account of Christianity." Mis- 
sionaries at Bagdad, and other places in the East, speak 



SYMPTOMS OF RENOVATION. 345 

of many hundreds of Jews opening their houses for in- 
struction, and still a greater number who are prosecuting 
their inquiries more privately. 

" In Hungary are hundreds of villages where half the 
Jewish population would ask baptism if they might have 
regular Protestant preaching/' A missionary writes : " I 
nowhere find so much work and so kind a reception as in 
Hungary." " In Prussia the spirit of inquiry is still more 
general and intense. At Comitz, Posen and Zempal, the 
J ews hear the missionary gladly ; his room is crowded all 
day with Jews and Jewesses, to whom a great number of 
Scriptures is distributed, and Christ crucified preached 
with no bitter opposition. They come in crowds, old and 
young, eager for books on Christianity." 

"In Berlin the progress of Christianity among the an- 
cient people of God is extraordinary, and the opposition 
of the Rabbis cannot stop it. The Jews join as by 
dozens, by scores, and I hope they will soon come by 
hundreds." There is, in the single city of Berlin, one 
thousand Christian Jews — one hundred baptized in a sin- 
gle year. Within a few years, three hundred have been 
baptized in the Hebrew Episcopal Chapel in London ; 
one thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight in Prus- 
sia ; five hundred and eighteen in Selisia ; three hun- 
dred and sixty-four in Warsaw and Kiningburg ; three 
thousand and four hundred Jews are in communion 
with the Christian Church. There is no consider- 
able town in Germany where there are not found bap- 
tized Jews. 

In Prussia, too, as also in many parts of Germany, 
thousands of Jewish children attend Christian schools, and 
are instructed in Christianity. " The present state of the 
Jewish mind," writes one, "is favorable to missionary 
abor. Throwing off Jewish prejudices and the trammels 
of the Talmud, they are anxiously inquiring after some- 
thing new — something more satisfactory than the puerilli- 
ties and outward observances of the Rabbis. The field 
is ripe." 

In Cracow, it is said, that if the means of support for 
proselytes could be obtained, one half of the Jewish popu- 
lation would become Christians. Indeed, not only here, 



346 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

but in many other places, it costs the Jew his very live- 
lihood to embrace Christianity. 

Many Jewish fathers in Vienna, and also in Gallicia, 
are bringing their children up Christians, though they 
prefer themselves to die Jews. 

"Inquirers from foreign countries not unfrequently come 
over to England, for the express purpose of investigating 
the truth of the Gospel." 

Rev. R. H. Hershell, by birth and honor a Jew, having 
extensively visited his brethren in Europe and Asia, and 
heard, in their synagogues, their confessions of sin and 
their earnest cries unto the Lord in the land of their dis- 
persion, says : " I found a mighty change in their minds 
and feelings in regard to the nearness of the time of their 
deliverance. Some assigned one reason, some another, 
but all agreed in thinking the time is at hand." While 
dining, on one occasion, with the Elders of the Synagogue, 
and conversing on the present condition of the Jews, one 
said : " Ah, w r e need a Jewish Luther to come among us 
and stir us up." When he declared that Jesus of Nazareth 
is the Messiah, it excited little astonishment or opposition. 

Indeed, I may here quote the declaration of Professor 
Tholock, of Germany, that " more Jews have been con- 
verted to Christianity, during the last twenty-five years, 
than during the seventeen centuries preceding." 

And, what is particularly encouraging to Christian 
effort, not a few converted Jews, and others not converted, 
are filling places of influence and trust, both in the world 
of letters and of politics, both in Church and State. Five 
Professors in the University of Halle are Jews ; three in 
Breslau. The celebrated Neander, Wehl and JBrenary 
are Jews — ten professors in Berlin alone. Drs. Lee, 
Stahl and Capadose are Jews. So is a medical professor 
in St. Petersburg, and eight clergymen in the Church of 
England. 

Whether it be in pecuniary ability and financial tack, 
or in the higher walks of learning, or in military prowess, 
or in political or diplomatic skill, the Jews are not want- 
ing in men thoroughly furnished for every exigency. The 
Minister of Finance in Russia is a Jew. The Minister, 
Senor Mandezabel, of Spain, is a Jew. The late Presi- 



JEWS IN HIGH PLACES. 347 

dent of the French Council, Marshal Soult, is a Jew. 
So are several French marshals. The first Jesuits were 
Jews. No great intellectual movement in Europe, re- 
marks one, has taken place in which Jews have not 
greatly participated. Indeed, not a small share of human 
activity is this day kept in motion by Jews. That mys- 
terious Russian diplomacy, which so alarms western 
Europe, is organized and chiefly carried on by Jews. 
The mighty reformation now preparing in Germany is 
developing itself under the auspices of Jews. It is 
strongly surmised that the celebrated John Rouge is a 
Jew. 

The daily political press in Europe, is very much under 
the dominion of the Jews. As literary contributors, they 
influence almost every leading continental newspaper. 
In Germany alone they have the exclusive control of 
fifteen public journals. An intelligent writer speaks of the 
" magic power" of their present intellectual influence in 
Europe. " For better or for worse, they are on the move. 
Every month brings tidings of a change. Old chains are 
being severed. Old opinions, associations and observances 
are being broken up. The harbor of Rabbinical Judaism 
is left. They must now either be piloted to the haven of 
truth, or, borne along for a time by every wind that blows, 
be at length stranded on the shore of Infidelity." 

We cannot but regard the Jews as on the eve — yea, in 
the midst of some mighty movement. There is, on their 
part, a singular preparedness for some great change. They 
are in a transition state— now being schooled in every na- 
tion on the face of the earth, and in every branch of prac- 
tical, profound, and useful learning, ^and in the various 
functions of office — prepared in lessons of rich and varied 
wisdom and experience, to construct a more perfect civil 
and church polity than the world has yet seen. 

There is, doubtless, Jewish material enough, at the 
present time, to form a strong body politic. They have 
numbers, wealth, intelligence, industry, enterprise. Should 
certain Jewish families in Europe suddenly withdraw 
their capital, they would cripple kingdoms. 

These are encouraging features to Christian efforts in 
behalf of the Jews. Such material, if once converted to 



34S HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

God, would be mighty to the pulling down of the strong- 
holds of Satan in the Gentile world. Large portions of 
the Mohammedan and Papal world are accessible only 
through the Jews resident among them. In Egypt, Pal- 
estine and Turkey,, you find the followers of the Arabian 
Prophet almost inaccessible to the Gospel ; yet you may 
preach to the Jew. In Wallachia and Moldavia, in Hun- 
gary, Austria and Italy, the attempt to evangelize the 
blind votaries of Rome, or of the Greek Church, would, 
till very recently, bring instant vengeance on the head 
of the missionary ; yet he may, without let or hinderance, 
preach to the thousands of Jews scattered there, and 
through them, introduce the gospel throughout all those 
wide realms of death. 

Finally, in contemplating the Jew, as he appears in the 
now 7 passing scene of Israel's grand drama, we have before 
us a pilgrim and a sojourner, with staff in hand and loins 
girt — a man from home, with little to attach him to the 
soil of his adopted country, and his heart as w 7 armly sigh- 
ing for the hills and valleys of his beloved Palestine, and 
for the Holy Hill of Zion, as the Jew who had wandered 
from the fold in' the days of David ; and his expectation 
of returning thither, as sanguine as were those of the 
w aiting captives of Babylon. 

Whether or not such expectations shall be literally 
realized, none, I think, will question that the Jews are on 
the threshold of a great revolution, and, with the page of 
prophecy before us, we cannot doubt this revolution 
shall be a return to the favor of God within the pale of 
Christianity. 

Such are some of the facts connected with the present 
condition of the Jew T s. Do they not warrant the expec- 
tation that the time draws near when the Father of Jacob 
will again smile on his wayward, wandering children, and 
accept their services in their beloved Zion ? The bowels 
of his love, the energies of his Almighty arm, are once 
more engaged for his ancient people, to restore them to 
his favor, and make them a praise in all the earth. God 
has not cast off his people. He has engraven them on the 
palms of his hand. He is kindly visiting Jacob in his dis- 
persion, and is calling his chosen from the ends of the 



REFLECTIONS. 349 

earth The Lord will arise and have mercy on Zion, for 
the time to favor her has come. 

In bringing to a close a chapter already protracted 
much beyond the original design, the importance of the 
subject seems to urge on us a few brief reflections. 

1. The question now so vigorously discussed by the 
Jews, assumes a double importance, from the fact, that it 
is the great question of the age. It is the Bible question. 
Shall the church take the Bible for her text-book, her 
only and infallible guide in all matters of faith and prac- 
tice, or shall the traditions of the elders, the command- 
ments of men, the decrees of councils, be her authority ? 
The " shaking" among the Jews is but a kindred move- 
ment with the present shaking in the whole religious 
world. It is the great question that divides Rome and 
Geneva. And this momentous question is likely to be 
first settled on Jewish ground. And have we not here a 
clue to the manner in which the Jews shall exercise so 
prominent an agency in the conversion of the world to 
Christianity ? Having themselves settled the great ques- 
tion of the age, broken down the last great, and perhaps 
the most formidable strong-hold of the adversary, they 
will come up to the great moral conflict as experienced, 
skillful, valiant men and successful warriors. 

2. What lesson of duty is here taught to all who revere 
the Messiah, and look and pray for the speedy coming of 
his kingdom ; and look for it, too, as to come especially 
through the agency of the Jews. They are to be as " life 
from the dead" to the slumbering nations. Consequently, 
an intellectual and religious movement among no other 
people can possess so much interest to the Christian. 
The destinies of the world are bound up in the destiny of 
Israel. And as we see this destiny developing, and sub- 
limer scenes in the great Jewish drama transpiring, we 
can hardly mistake that a new dispensation is unfolding 
itself, more extensive, more sublime, than the world has 
yet witnessed. Every feeling of piety will, therefore, 
respond, with unfeigned gratitude, to what God is now 
doing to recover the house of Israel ; every pious effort 
be put forth to bring Israel again into the pale of the 
divine favor, and of the visible church of God The 

30 



350 BAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

Jewish mind is ripe either for the messenger of the gos- 
pel, or for the teacher of infidelity. If we do not sow 
the good seed, while we sleep the enemy will sow tares. 

3. What kind of efforts will be found more effectual to 
the conversion of the Jew ? Whether for Jew or Gen- 
tile, it must be in substance the preaching of Christ cru- 
cified ; but to the Jew, not precisely in the same way. 
To him it is not a new presentation of Christ, but an 
identification of the Messiah already come, with his ex- 
pected Messiah. He is ready to believe, if he can identify 
Jesus of Nazareth as the foretold Christ. Hence these 
" dry bones' 5 must be " prophesied" to. Correct exposi- 
tions of the prophecies must constitute the burden of the 
labors of the missionary to the Jews. He must preach 
Christ the end of the Jewish law ; Christ, the reality of 
all their types, the substance of all their shadows, the 
thing signified by all their signs, the great sacrifice and 
sin-offering, the Lamb of God, the Messiah so long 
looked for. They cannot believe till they see Jesus the 
prophet like unto Moses ; the spirit of prophecy, a testi- 
mony concerning Jesus. Already much has occurred to 
force the Jewish mind to the study of their prophetic 
writings. The word of God is becoming more and more 
the only authority in religious controversy. 

4. All things are preparing for, and approaching a 
crisis of intense interest to our entire race. This is an in- 
ference from a survey of the present condition of the 
Jews, as connected with their providential relation to the 
whole world. Any divine purpose fulfilled towards 
Israel, or any movement in their camp, involves in it a 
series of purposes and movements towards the whole 
Gentile world. Every leaf that stirs on the mountains 
of Israel, is a signal of a mighty commotion among the 
nations ; every ripple on the waters of Judah, a precur- 
sor of a storm that shall shake the foundations of the 
great deep. When God shall deign to smile again on his 
ancient people, and restore them to their promised in- 
heritance, all that have opposed his purposes shall be 
taken out of the way ; all that have wronged and op- 
pressed Israel shall drink of the cup of his indignation. 
It shall be the overturning of the world ; shall bring peace 



THE NESTORIAN CHURCH. 351 

to them who love the Prince of Peace, but destruction 
. to them who have fought against the Lord's anointed 
ones. 

Are you prepared, reader, for the coming of such 
events ; laboring, watching, praying, waiting, hoping, till 
the Son of Man come in his glory, restore his people to 
his favor, avenge himself on their enemies, convert the 
world, and take the kingdom to himself? 



CHAPTER XIX. 



The Nestorians— their country, number, history. The Ten lost Tribes. Early con- 
version to Christianity. Their missionary character. The American Mission 
among them. Dr. Grant and the Koordish mountains. The massacre. The great 
Revival— extends into the mountains. The untamed mountaineer. A bright day 
dawning. 

* They shall build the old wastes ; they shall raise up the former 
desolations? 1 — Isa. lxi. 4. 

We shall pass over the Syrian, Coptic, and Greek 
churches without any particular notice, not being aware 
of any thing in their present condition especially en- 
couraging to the labors of the evangelist. That a reno- 
vating process has begun among them — that the hand of 
God is at work, preparing the way for the recovery, at 
no very distant day, of those lapsed portions of the one 
great fold, we do not doubt. Already facts indicate such 
a process. Yet the lines of Providence are not distinct ; 
the point of their convergence not certain. Nor need 
we speak immaturely. It is quite sufficient that we take 
a cursory survey of but one other of these ancient 
churches. 

The Nestorians. This ancient people occupy the 
border country between the Turkish and Persian em- 
pires. They are found mostly among the mountains of 



;]5'2 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

Koordistan. (the ancient Assyria,) and in the province 
of Ooroomiah, in western Persia. The western portion 
of this territory is subject to the Turks, the eastern to the 
Persians, while the central portion, among the wild 
ranges of almost inaccessible mountains, is nearly inde- 
pendent — ignorant and barbarous. 

The Nestorians, computed now at 150,000, are the 
remnant of a noble race. They have a history of thrill- 
ing interest ; a history not yet written, and perhaps 
never can be. The antiquity of the Nestorians, their 
location, their preservation as a distinct people, and a 
Christian church; their doctrinal and Christian purity and 
spirituality, compared with all other oriental churches ; 
their entire exemption from idolatry, and their remarkable 
missionary character, are facts which bespeak an atten- 
tive perusal of their history, and which can scarcely fail 
to suggest to every reflecting mind, that a people who 
have so long been the objects of an ever-watchful Provi- 
dence, are reserved for some signal display of his grace. 

An intelligent traveler, the late Rev. Dr. Grant, who 
recently visited them among their mountain fastnesses, 
has, with much plausibility, claimed for the Nestorians a 
Hebrew origin. They are, he believes, the remnant of 
the Ten Tribes, which Shalmaneser, King of Assyria, 
carried captive into Assyria 721 years before Christ. 
They are found in the very same spot where, twenty-five 
centuries before, God put the Ten Tribes. They resem- 
ble the Jews in features, manners, dress, and language. 
Their names are Jewish ; and tradition, both among 
themselves, and the nominal Jews that reside among 
them, as also among the Koords, assigns to them an 
Israelitish descent. And another species of evidence is 
produced. It is of the character of circumstantial testi- 
mony. Dr. Grant finds in this ancient Christian church 
certain relics (rf Judaism ; remains of sacrificial customs ; 
traces of religious vows, especially that of the Nazarites ; 
of first fruits brought to the sanctuary ; of Jewish purifi- 
cations and washings ; of the Passover ; of the prohibi- 
tion of eating unclean animals ; of the cities of refuge 
and the avenging of blood ; the extraordinary sanctifica- 
tion of the Sabbath ; the appointment of a High Priest, 



THEIR HEBREW ORIGIN. 353 

and the peculiar structure of their places of worship, in 
which the " Holy of holies" is still to be seen. 

Though these " beggarly elements/' the relics of a by- 
gone dispensation, but ill become the simplicity of a 
Christian church, they are just what we should expect to 
find on the hypothesis that these Nestorians were con- 
verted to Christianity at a very early period, and that 
they were Jews before their conversion. That the Ten 
Tribes, wherever they were at the time of the first pro- 
mulgation of Christianity, did very early receive the gos- 
pel, admits of little doubt. For the gospel was, in the 
order of appointment, first of all to be preached to the 
"lost sheep of the house of Israel." The work of evan- 
gelization among the Gentiles was deferred till this prelim- 
inary work was done. Both the Twelve and the Seventy 
were especially charged with a commission to the seed 
of Abraham. And it must further be borne in mind, that 
a full eight years elapsed from the Resurrection to the 
calling of the first Gentile ; an eight years of unusual 
Christian activity and missionary zeal, yet not a suspicion 
seems to have been breathed, during this time, that this 
activity and zeal had the slightest concern for any one 
beyond the seed of Abraham. At the beginning of these 
eight years occurred the notable Pentecost, in which three 
thousand Jews were converted, Jews " out of every na- 
tion under heaven." In this remarkable assembly were 
Jews from the very regions into which the Ten Tribes 
were carried, and where Josephus and other historians 
affirm they still were in the first century of the Christian 
era ; # and these, the Parthians and Medes of Peter's 
assembly, were no doubt the first to bring the gospel to 
the notice of their brethren among the mountains of 
Assyria, to meet, perhaps, a ready reception. Perchance 
they had already heard of Jesus, the King of the Jews, 
and the long looked for Messiah. Perchance the " wise 

• Josephus says : " The Ten Tribes are beyond the Euphrates till now." — Antiq. B. 
XI. Ch. V. King Agrippa, in a speech to the Jews, alludes, as to a well-known fact, to 
their "fellow tribes" dwelling in Adiabene beyond the Euphrates. Adiabene was a 
name given to the central part of Assyria, where these tribes were placed by their royal 
captor, and where the Nestorians are still found. And Jerome, the most learned of 
the Latin fathers, very expressly and repeatedly states, that the Ten Tribes were to be 
found in that region in the fifth century. 

30* 



354 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

men from the East" had gone out from those very se- 
cluded glens, and returned with the joyful news that they 
had seen and worshiped this King of the Jews. Indeed, 
the Nestorians have a tradition, supported by the predic- 
tions of Zoroaster, that the Magi who visited our Saviour, 
went from Ooroomiah. 

The work of evangelization, begun by the converts of 
Pentecost, seems to have been carried forward by certain 
of the immediate disciples of our Lord. Most historians 
name the Apostles Thomas and Thaddeus, as embassadors 
to the Parthians and the Medes, while the disciples Mat- 
thew, Simon, and Bartholomew, together with Mares, 
Adeus, and Agheus, appear among the number who, at 
this early period, preached the gospel among the moun- 
tains of Assyria. 

Admitting Christianity to have been established among 
the Nestorians as early as I have supposed, by Jews, be- 
fore they were themselves more than half emancipated 
from the yoke of Judaism, and among Jews who were 
still subject to the yoke, we should expect to find, as the 
result, a sort of Jewish Christianity, a mongrel of Judaism 
and Christianity, a cross nearer to Judaism than the 
Christianity of the Apostles before the vision of Peter. 
And the existence of such a Christianity there, is in turn 
an argument that it was introduced at the time, and 
among such a people, as I have supposed. 

The Nestorian Christians compare very favorably with 
every other oriental church, in doctrine, form, and spirit- 
uality. They have the greatest abhorrence of all image 
worship, of auricular confession, purgatory, and many 
other of the corrupt dogmas and practices of the Papal, 
Greek, and Armenian churches, and may with propriety 
be called the " Protestants of Asia." 

The preservation and local position of this people, for 
the last twenty-five centuries, is a matter of intense in- 
terest. Shut up in the midst of the munitions of the 
rocks, in the place God had prepared for them, they have 
been preserved from destruction, while thrones and 
dominions were falling to decay about them, and the 
world was shaken by the heavings of a thousand revolu- 
tions. And especially during the last twelve centuries, 



THEIR MISSIONARY CHARACTER. 355 

have they been invaded on all sides by the emissaries of 
Rome, and hunted, like the hart on the mountains, by 
their Moslem neighbors. During this whole protracted 
period they have been a little flock surrounded by raven- 
ing wolves, yet the Great Shepherd has provided a fold 
for them, and nothing has ^een permitted to hurt them. 

Standing on the summit of a mountain that overlooked 
the vast amphitheatre of the wild, precipitous mountains, 
amidst whose deep defiles and narrow glens are found the 
abodes of the Nestorians, our late traveler thus eloquently 
describes the protecting hand of God in the preservation 
of this people : " Here was the home of one hundred 
thousand Christians, around whom the arm of Omnipo- 
tence had reared the adamantine ramparts, whose lofty, 
snow-capped summits seemed to blend with the skies in 
the distant horizon. Here, in their munitions of rocks, 
has God preserved, as if for some great end in the economy 
of his grace, a chosen remnant of his ancient church, 
secure from the Beast and the False Prophet, safe from 
the flames of persecution and the clangor of war." 

We can scarcely resist the conviction, if we would, 
that these dwellers among the mountains and in the vales, 
have been kept, as the special objects of providential 
care, for some great and special end ; and what this end 
is we are now beginning to see. 

But before proceeding to notice the present providen- 
tial indications of the returning favor of God on the Nes- 
torian church, we must allude at least to one other feature 
of this ancient church — its missionary character. This is 
a remarkable feature, especially when contemplated in 
connection with the persecuted and oppressed condition 
of that church during the period of her most laudable 
missionary zeal. From the third to the sixteenth century, 
her missions spread over the whole vast regions of cen- 
tral and eastern Asia, amidst the wilds of Tartary, and 
through the vast empire of China. Persia, India, and all 
the intermediate countries, from the mountains of Assyria 
to the Chinese Sea, had, to some extent at least, been 
made acquainted with the gospel through these zealous 
missionaries from the mountains of Koordistan ; while 
Arabia and Syria, and the western part of Asia, shared in 



356 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

their indefatigable and self-denying labors.* As early as 
the fifth century, the Patriarch had sent out no less than 
twelve Metropolitans, and a corresponding number of 
Archbishops, to the very borders of China; which implies 
the existence in those places of bishops, priests, and 
churches. In the seventh century we find them propa- 
gating their faith " from Persia, India, and Syria, among 
the barbarous and savage nations inhabiting the des- 
erts and the remotest shores of Asia;" and especially 
in this century did they carry the gospel into China. 
The Emperor Coacum, (from 650 to 684,) commanded 
Christian churches to be erected in all the provinces of 
China. The gospel was propagated in ten of the prov- 
inces of the empire, and all the cities were supplied with 
churches. Even in the tenth century, the very midnight 
of Christianity, when the light of the gospel seemed 
scarcely to disturb the universal darkness, except as it 
faintly gleamed out from the mountains of Koordistan and 
of the Alps, these intrepid disciples were penetrating the 
wilds of Tartary, and lighting there the fires of Chris- 
tianity. During the darkest portion of the dark ages, 
from the seventh to the middle of the thirteenth century, 
the Nestorians were in Asia what the Waldenses were in 
Europe. 

Such a providential feature is full of encouragement to 
all our endeavors to resuscitate the dominant energies of 
the Nestorian church. This church has been signally 
marked as a missionary church ; and she was, especially 
in the dark ages, a signal instrument for the carrying for- 
ward the work of redemption. Is not, then, every indica- 
tion of the return of God's favor to this people, full of hope 
for the whole Eastern world ? If once reanimated with 
their former missionary zeal, what have we not reason to 
hope from their undaunted courage and untiring zeal, 
when the power of the press and all the increasing means 
of modern times are brought to their aid ? Long since 
did the burning tide of Mohammedanism sweep over the 
fair fabrics of their missionary toils in Asia, and seem- 
ingly prostrate them in the dust, yet we may hope a rem- 

# See a Sketch of Nestorian Missions, drawn up for the Missionary Herald for August, 
1838, on the authority of Mosheim, Assemane, Gibbon, &c. 



THEIR PRESENT CONDITION. 357 

nant may remain, who, even in those now idolatrous 
lands, shall be roused from their long slumbers by the 
trump which seems about to shake the mountains of As- 
syria, and who, risen again, shall once more stand in their 
lot, witnesses for the truth, which they once so fearlessly 
professed and beautifully adorned in the days of their first 
espousals. Through them we may renew their missions 
in all Central Asia and China. Let the present Patriarch 
feel as Patriarch Tamotheus did a thousand years ago, 
and we should need to send very few men from the West 
to evangelize Asia. We should find men nearer the field 
of action, oriental men, with oriental habits, and better 
fitted to win their way to oriental hearts. And as the re- 
turning fire of Christianity shall again warm the centre, 
may we not expect its benign heat shall extend to the 
ancient extremities, and China and Tartary again be- 
come, through their instrumentality, vocal with the 
praises of our God ? 

But let us take a cursory glance of the present condi- 
tion of the Nestorian Christians, and see what the hand 
of God is now doing for them, and what prognostics there 
may be that their winter is passed and their spring 
cometh. 

The American mission was commenced at Ooroomiah 
in 1835 ; just in time to frustrate the nefarious schemes 
of the Jesuits to entangle the Nestorians in the subtle 
folds of Rome. A Jesuit offered the Patriarch ten thou- 
sand dollars on condition that he would acknowledge al- 
legiance to the Pope ; to whom the Patriarch replied, 
" Thy money perish with thee." And later still the assu- 
rance has been tendered him, that if he would so far be- 
come a Catholic as to recognize the supremacy of the 
Pope, he should not only be Patriarch of the Nestorians, 
but all the Christians of the East should be added to his 
jurisdiction. To this the Patriarch replied: " Get thee 
hence, Satan."* The providential interposition of the 
American Board saved this lapsed, yet interesting branch 
of the Christian church from a catastrophe so disastrous. 

From this time forward the providential history of this 

* Dr- J. Perkins of Ooroomiah, in the Bible Repository, 



358 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

mission is full of interest. When God would send thither 
his servants, he sent before them to prepare the way such 
men as Sir John Campbell, Lord Ponsonby, Commodore 
Porter, Dr. Riach, and Colonel Sheil, not to mention oth- 
ers of like noble character and expansive philanthropy, to 
whom Providence had, at this time, given power and in- 
fluence at the courts of Persia, and of the Sublime Porte. 
It was through the very timely instrumentality of these 
men, that our mission found so ready access to the Nesto- 
rians in Persia and among the Koordish mountains. 
Nooroolah Bey, the fierce Koordish chief of the inde- 
pendent Hakary, who had put to death the German trav- 
eler Shultz, the only European who had ventured in his 
territories, is disarmed and made a friend by the profes- 
sional skill of Dr. Grant. Being seized with a severe ill- 
ness of which Dr. G. restores him, he is made ever after- 
wards his friend. Who does not discern the hand of 
God in this ? The raising up and qualifying such a man 
as Dr. Grant, and the protection afforded him throughout 
his hazardous excursions among the barbarous Koords, is 
sufficiently providential to excite our admiration. Such 
travelers are few and far between, and such excursions 
are under the guidance of a specially protecting Provi- 
dence. Again, the general favor our mission met from 
the ecclesiastics of the Nestorian church, is to be re- 
garded in the same light. The missionaries were re- 
ceived as fellow laborers, to resuscitate a lapsed and dor- 
mant church. The mission schools were welcomed as a 
public blessing ; priests and bishops put themselves under 
the tuition of the mission, and at the same time became 
efficient helpers; their places of public worship were 
thrown open to the preaching of the missionaries, and all 
strove together to give to the Nestorian nation the Bible 
in their venacular tongue. 

All seemed prosperous, and a brighter day dawning ; 
when, suddenly, the heavens were overcast and portended 
a storm. The Koords rise on the mountain Nestorians, 
massacre a great number, and drive others from their 
homes. The mission in the mountains, which had already 
cost much in life and treasure, is broken up. The Pa- 
triarch and the higher ecclesiastics, acted on, no doubt, 



FIRST MONDAY OF JANUARY. 359 

by the emissaries of Rome and of Oxford, allow their in- 
fluence to go against the mission. The village schools, 
forty-three in number, are disbanded ; the two boarding- 
schools broken up ; all looks dark. But it was the dark- 
ness that precedes the dawn. There w T as a bow on that 
cloud. God was about to appear for his down-cast peo- 
ple, and to prosper the labors of his faithful servants. 

A delightful presage of what God was now about to do, 
had been given in the beginning of the year 1844. While 
assembled on the first Monday of January, there appeared 
an unusual seriousness, betokening the presence of the 
Spirit. The result was the conversion of a few individ- 
uals, mostly young men from the seminary. During the 
next two years the mission was not left without tokens, 
from time to time, of a work of grace. But the year 
1846, was the year of the right hand of the Lord. While 
the little church were again assembled on the first Mon- 
day of January, praying for the descent of the Spirit, the 
windows of heaven were opened, and a copious blessing 
came down. The first cases of inquiry appeared in Miss 
Fisk's school. Almost simultaneously, similar scenes 
were witnessed in Mr. Stoddard's seminary. From that 
good hour the work extended through the year, and over 
the plains of Ooroomiah, and among the mountains of 
Koordistan, till, in the judgment of charity, it has num- 
bered near two hundred hopeful conversions. Indeed, no 
number can safely be named. The effect is well nigh 
national. The common mind has been moved. While 
a large number have been converted, a vastly larger 
number have been brought under the influence of evan- 
gelical truth, and may be said to be in a state of inquiry. 
It has never been the writer's privilege to be made ac- 
quainted with a revival of religion which bears more 
marks of a genuine work of grace. If deep and pungent 
convictions— abasing, self-loathing views of sin — if still- 
ness and solemnity, prayers and tears, be an indication of 
a work of the Spirit ; if ecstatic views of pardoning love 
and joy in sins forgiven ; zeal for the honor of Christ ; 
tenderness of conscience, and ardent solicitude for the 
salvation of others, be evidence of a gracious work, such 
a work was witnessed among the Nestorians, 



360 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

But it does not fall within the limits of our present 
plan to go into the details of the work, truly interesting 
as they are. We are to contemplate it only as a 'provi- 
dential measure preparatory to future progress. 

And the first thing which demands our attention is, the 
moral power for the evangelization of the Nestorian na- 
tion, which Providence created and secured by this re- 
vival. Mind is hereby sanctified and prepared for moral 
activity. But it is not the amount of mind now brought 
into the work, so much as its character, which develops 
the providential bearing of the revival. The same num- 
ber of souls might have been converted, and yet no great 
moral result follow to the church and nation at large. 
But when we recur to the character of the converts — 
bishops, priests, deacons, members of the Patriarch's fam- 
ily ; the most influential part of the nation ; nearly all 
that portion of the youth of the nation who are in the 
process of receiving an education, and, of consequence, 
being prepared to exercise a controlling influence in time 
to come, we discover the finger of God at work there in 
reference to some great, prospective good. Here are 
provided mental and moral resources, which we may con- 
fidently expect shall be employed for an adequate end. 
Does God design to convert this ancient people, and re- 
vive this ancient church, that he may again employ them 
as they were nobly employed a thousand years ago in the 
work of evangelizing Asia, he has provided himself with 
just such instruments as we should expect. 

Another providential feature of this revival is, its diffusive 
character, and the long time of its continuance. These two 
features blended, exhibit a beautiful providence. It was 
widely extended because it was long continued. It was 
continued till the seminaries should have their vacations, 
and a large number of the recently converted should be 
scattered through the villages and among the mountains, 
everywhere carrying with them the light and love of the 
gospel, and kindling a flame in the bosom of their several 
family circles, and in their neighborhoods ; and, till the 
inhabitants of the mountains should witness the wonderful 
power of God, and many of the mountaineers become vi- 
tally interested in the work. The most interesting sea- 



THE MASSACRE AND THE REVIVAL. 361 

son was in the winter, when thousands of the poor mount- 
aineers are forced down to the plain of Ooroomiah to 
seek food. They now found the bread of life, and re- 
turned rejoicing in the fullness of Christ. But there is at 
this point a yet more remarkable providence to be no- 
ticed. The unprovoked and shocking massacre by the 
Koords, had now driven thousands more from their 
mountain recesses, where there seemed little hope the 
missionary could reach them, and forced them down upon 
the plain, and thus brought them in contact with evan- 
gelical influences. Their children were unexpectedly 
brought into the schools, their priests enlightened and 
converted, and the people brought to hear a pure gospel. 

And not only so, but the revival extended into the 
mountains. In this, too, the hand of God was signally 
manifested. An instance or two will illustrate : A little 
girl from Hakkie, in a mountain district, joins Miss Fisk's 
school, and, during the progress of the revival, becomes a 
Christian. Her father, an untamed mountaineer, soon 
visits her. The silken cords of a daughter's love are 
thrown about him, and these young disciples point him to 
the cross of Christ. He hears with indifference, then 
with wonder. Light increases ; conviction presses on 
him that he is a sinner, and his heart rises in opposition. 
He struggles with his feelings. The strong man bows and 
weeps like a child — the trembling sinner becomes a peace- 
ful Christian. This man was deacon Guergis. Having 
consecrated himself to the cause of Christ, he returns 
home to make known the more excellent way to his 
friends and neighbors. The light thus \&i ^ed, spreads, 
till evangelical doctrines are promulgated from village to 
village over the whole district. Many inquire the way 
of life — many are concerted. And when, after some 
months, the missionaries visit Tergarwer, the district in 
question, they meet a hearty welcome, find the people 
everywhere waiting to receive the word ; deacon Guer- 
gis, who had been a principal instrument in the work, la- 
boring with great zeal, prudence and efficiency, and the 
good work widely extended and extending. 

The position of this district, and the character of its in- 
habitants, are represented as giving this religious move- 

31 



362 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

ment a peculiar interest. " Familiar as they are from in- 
fancy with the Koords, accustomed to mountain life and 
its attendant hardships, they will be able, if truly con- 
verted to God, to carry the gospel into the districts of Koor- 
distan under more favorable circumstances than our help- 
ers in Ooroomiah can command for some time to come." 

The commencement of the work in Gawar, another 
mountain district, fifty miles still further among the 
mountains, and more especially in the heart of the mount- 
ain population, is not the less worthy of note as a provi- 
dential movement. 

A rough mountaineer from Gawar, comes to Ooroo- 
miah on business ; is persuaded to remain a few days in 
the hope he may be led to attend to the concerns of his 
soul. He is immediately made the subject of prayer and 
exhortation ; is soon effected by the truth, which, in turn, 
increases the anxieties of others for him, and the fervojf 
of their prayers for his salvation. He is deeply and pun- 
gently convicted as a sinner, and soon hopefully a new 
creature, sitting at the feet of Jesus. He returns to his 
mountain home, with no one to instruct him, sympathize 
with, or encourage him, and himself unable to read. 
Months pass, and nothing is heard from Gawar, or the 
mountain convert. The vacation of the seminary comes, 
when a younger brother of the convert returns home and 
finds there a blessed work of grace in progress, which he 
does not a little to advance. The mountain convert had 
gone in the fullness of the Spirit and in the power of his 
Master, told the simple tale of the Lord's doings for his 
soul, exemplified the truth in a life of prayer and simple 
faith and holy zeal, and it was the mighty power of God 
to the pulling down of strong-holds. His honest labors 
had been signally owned, and he had prepared the way 
for the labors of other converts, who now followed, and 
who were more perfectly instructed in the way of life. 
A glorious work of the Spirit was the result, which spread 
throughout the district. 

Thus, before the missionaries had made their first 
visit, an extensive work was in progress, commenced 
without any direct agency of theirs, and in a district of 
country hitherto inaccessible, and where, too, the preva- 



THE NESTORIAN CHURCH TO BE REVIVED. 363 

lence of pure religion must be peculiarly salutary and 
efficient on the neighboring population, and bring the 
gospel in contact with the barbarous Koords. It is, 
probably, in this manner that the gospel is to make its 
way, without observation or display, into the mountain 
districts, independent of human government or protection. 

All opposition seems hushed, and a conviction to per- 
vade the common mind, that the hand of the Lord is at 
work to revive the Nestorian church. There is almost 
a universal readiness to listen to a preached gospel — a 
general spirit of inquiry pervading the nation. And 
there is, too, an efficient and suitable instrumentality 
prepared, to advance the work till the whole nation shall 
be regenerated. It has never been the policy of the mis- 
sion to organize a new church, but to resuscitate the old 
one. And present appearances indicate that what has 
proved impracticable among the Armenians, may be 
achieved for the Nestorians. 

Already an extensive native agency is in the field. 
Ecclesiastics have generally shown themselves the friends 
of reform, and are the principal instruments in advancing 
the work. Four bishops are pupils and helpers to the 
mission, and a large number of priests and deacons ; and 
successors to bishops and priests are pupils in the Mis- 
sion Seminary, and converts of the late revival. 

Says the Rev. Dr. Perkins of Ooroomiah : " The light 
of true piety, kindled at various points on the plain of 
Ooroomiah, and in the neighboring mountain districts, is 
brightening and extending, and we have more and more 
evidence of the power and extent of the revival of last 
year. Indeed, in its blessed effects, this revival has never 
yet ceased, but has been, and is still, constantly advan- 
cing ; and where it has taken the strongest hold, the entire 
mass seem to be pervaded by its influences. Some of 
our native evangelists are itinerating in remote districts 
of this province, and with encouraging success." 

Reference has already been made to the character of 
the converts. No feature of the late revival, perhaps, is 
more strikingly providential, or possesses a higher in- 
terest to the pious mind, than the activity and zeal of the 
converts, to extend the work throughout the nation— 



364 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

especially that the gospel be preached to their brethren 
in the mountains of Koordistan. District after district of 
those almost inaccessible regions has been visited, and 
the gospel preached, as one door after another has been 
providentially opened, with a zeal and self-denial worthy 
the days of the apostles ; and soon we may expect to 
hear that those hills and valleys have become vocal with 
the praises of our God. The hand of the Lord is in the 
thing for good, to that long forsaken but truly interest- 
ing people. 

But Providence has provided other resources there for 
carrying forward his work, in the form of the press, of 
education, and the preparation and publication of the 
Scriptures. Three millions of pages of printed matter 
have been scattered among the Nestorians, within 
scarcely more than twice that number of years ; and 
an efficient system of Christian education is preparing 
the mind of a large class of youth to act for the further 
regeneration of their nation. 

Do not these things indicate that the night, which has 
so long covered the Nestorians, is far spent, and the day 
is at hand ? And have we not some pleasing indications 
that the Lord of the harvest has important purposes to 
accomplish through the Nestorians — a conspicuous part 
to act by them in bringing in the latter-day glory? 
"What position could be more important and advan- 
tageous, in its bearing on the conversion of the world, 
than that occupied by the Nestorians, situated as they 
are in the centre of Mohammedan dominion ? And is it 
too much to believe that this ancient church, once so re- 
nowned for its missionary efforts, and still possessing such 
capabilities, as well as such facility of location for the 
renewal of like missionary labors, will again awake from 
the slumber of ages, and become bright as the sun, fair as 
the moon, and terrible as an army with banners ! that it 
will again diffuse such floods of light as shall forever put 
to shame the corrupt abominations of Mohammedanism, 
roll back the tide of Papal influence which is now setting 
in so strongly and threatening to overwhelm it, and send 
forth faithful missionaries of the cross in such numbers 
and with such holy zeal, as shall bear the tidings of sal- 



EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND FORTY-EIGHT. 365 

vation to every corner of benighted Asia. We confi- 
dently look for such results, and that at no very distant 
period. The signs of the times in this eastern world 
betoken the speedy approach of mighty political revolu- 
tions. The Mohammedan powers are crumbling to ruin. 
Christian nations are soon to rule over all the followers 
of the false prophet. Turkey and Persia are tottering, 
and would fall at once by their own weight, were they 
not upheld by rival European governments. The uni- 
versal catastrophe of Mohammedan dominion cannot, in 
all human probability, be much longer postponed."* 
They that take the sword shall perish with the sword — 
when the sword shall be taken from them. 

We look, perhaps, in vain over the whole face of the 
earth for a spot where the arm of the Lord is more man- 
ifestly revealed ; and we wait with increasing interest to 
see what shall be the future developments of Providence, 
concerning this ancient and interesting people. 



CHAPTER XX. 



Europe in 1848. The Mission of Puritanism— in Europe. The failure of the Reforma- 
tion. Divorce of Church and State. The moral element in Government. Progress 
of liberty in Europe ; religious Liberty. Causes of the late European movement. 
The downfall of Louis Phillippe. What the end shall be. 

? / will overturn, overturn, overturn — till he come whose right it 
^."— Ez. xxi. 27. 

The time has not come to write, in the annals of the 
world's history, the Chapter on Europe in 1848. Yet 
the time has come to begin to write such a chapter. 
This, however, does not fall within the province of the 

* Rev. Dr. J. Perkins, in the Biblical Repository for 1841. 

31* 



366 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

present treatise. It is ours to take history as we find it, 
and in its ever interesting evolutions, to watch the Hand 
of God as He reigns in all its events. Since the forego- 
ing chapters were prepared for the press, revolutions and 
changes have transpired in Europe, which beautifully 
sustain our main position. Precisely what will come of 
these revolutions, we have not yet seen enough to pre- 
dict. But we are quite sure God is in them, and that He 
will, in due time, educe results which shall honor himself, 
and signally advance the kingdom of truth and right- 
eousness. 

We took occasion in a foregoing chapter, to speak of 
the Hand of God in the discovery of America, and of the 
controlling influence here given to the Puritan element ; 
how it has given existence, form and character to our 
government, been the main spring of our national pros- 
perity, formed our social relations, entered largely into 
all our commercial, educational and industrial enter- 
prises, and set religion free from the trammels which 
fettered her in the old world, disrobing her of senseless 
rites and more senseless trappings, and giving her a new 
vitality : and how this same controlling influence has 
followed, wave after wave, the tide of population west- 
ward, fulfilling its mission none the less effectually in the 
remotest settlements of the West, by incorporating itself 
with the heterogeneous materials collected there from 
every nation, tongue and kindred, softening, melting, 
fusing and running them into the New England mould. 

The Puritan seems the true type and representative of 
the Anglo-Saxon race, a race which seems destined to 
be a chief instrument in the rapid progress and elevation 
of man. New England is at once the nursery, the re- 
pository and the school-master of the whole nation. The 
Puritan element is everywhere the motive power. It has 
set in motion the wheel of the manufacturer ; opened the 
mine of precious and useful metals and minerals ; pro- 
jected our canals, railways and telegraphs ; spread our 
canvas on every sea ; covered our rivers and coasts 
with steamers ; built our colleges, and given existence, 
character and efficiency to our common schools, and 
published our books. Go West or South, and you will 



THE REFORMATION INCOMPLETE. 367 

find this same Puritan character telling on the industry 
and enterprise, the thrift and prosperity of the people. 
Ask who teaches this school, who the president and pro- 
fessors of this college, the cashier of this bank ; who your 
lawyers, physicians, preachers, statesmen ; who your most 
thriving farmers, mechanics, merchants, manufacturers ? 

Such having been the domestic fruits of Puritanism, 
we are prepared to inquire whether there be any foreign 
fruits which at all correspond. Nations have within a 
few years been brought into a strange proximity ; and if, 
as has* been affirmed, our civil and religious institutions 
are more nearly, than those of any other nation, in har- 
mony with the religion of the New Testament, are we 
to expect their renovating influence will be confined to 
America ? Truth is mighty ; and institutions which har- 
monize with truth, shall extend. Oceans cannot hinder 
them ; national boundaries form scarcely an obstacle to 
their progress ; the iron gates of despotism cannot shut 
them out. Truth is a strong leaven, and though it work 
unseen, it is sure to leaven the whole lump. 

We hesitate not, therefore, to assume, that the present 
condition of Europe — the condition since the 23d of 
February, 1848, is but the carrying out and maturing of 
the magnificent scheme of Providence, begun in the dis 
covery of America, and yet more ostensibly begun in the 
safe landing of the Mayflower at the Rock of Plymouth 
In support of this assumption, the following considera- 
tions deserve attention. 

1. The Reformation of the sixteenth century, both in 
respect to civil government and religion, was arrested 
before it had completed half its work. Luther left un 
touched some odious features of Romanism. The Re 
formed religion needed to be immediately reformed. But 
we allude at present to a single feature, which, it is be- 
lieved, contributed vastly to check the hopeful progress 
of the Reformation. We mean the neglect of the early 
reformers to effect a separation of Church and State, The 
Christian church was but half emancipated. Like her 
great Apostle, she sighed for deliverance : " O wretched 
man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of 
this death" — from this dead body, the State ? Puritan- 



368 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

ism cut the cord, and the church began to be free. The 
Reformation did not reach the depths of religious free- 
dom. Next to the usurpation and tyranny of Rome, this 
miserable union with the state has inflicted the severest 
blow. Puritanism proclaims a divorce ; and so univer- 
sally and successfully has the " voluntary system" been 
adopted in this country, that no sect would for a moment 
consent to such an alliance, if it were proffered. It would 
be regarded as death to the vitality of religion. It is 
under the voluntary system, that personal piety has so 
far pervaded the public mind, revivals prospered, our 
charitable enterprises originated and sent the gospel over 
the whole earth, and made Christianity so beautifully ag- 
gressive. This is essentially American — an advanced 
step under the favoring auspices of Puritanism — but not 
confined to America. It has found its way back across 
the Atlantic. The little leaven, which was not allowed 
room to work in England, was transported to America. 
Here it worked successfully, and has returned, with the 
accumulated power of two centuries, to do its destined 
work in Europe, and thence to fulfill its mission round the 
world. 

How this work is advancing in England, the present 
struggle, indicated in the term Church Reform^ is ample 
voucher. The mass of the English nation has willed the 
severance of the Church and State, and Church and State 
must be severed. It is but the sure consequence of prin- 
ciples which have taken deep root in the English mind — ■ 
an effect so imperative, that neither the power of the 
throne, nor the pride of the aristocracy, nor the piteous 
remonstrances of church dignitaries can long hinder it. 
What the Reformation unfortunately left undone for Eng- 
land, is likely soon to be done ; and once done there, 
where will this miserable relic of Romanism much longer 
find a foothold ? 

The late secession from the establishment of the Hon. 
and Rev. Baptist Noel, of London, is at this time ominous 
of coming change. It has undoubtedly struck a blow at 
this unhappy alliance, which will be felt throughout the 
English Church. Mr. Noel has sent through the press 
an explanation of the bold step he has taken, and a de- 



THE MORAL ELEMENT. 369 

fence of his present position, which, if we may judge from 
the obvious merits of the book itself, and from the eager- 
ness with which it is sought by thousands of all denomi- 
nations in Great Britain, is destined to exert a no insig- 
nificant influence in the final emancipation of the Church 
from the incubus of the State. 

But we have, perhaps, a more forcible illustration of the 
progress of this feature of American Christianity, in the 
present religious condition of the continent. So accus- 
tomed had European Christians become to see Chris- 
tianity dwindle under the shadow of the State, that they 
scarcely knew she could survive the open sunshine of 
heaven — stand by her own native strength, and grow and 
expand as the plant of heaven, unpropped, unaided, unfed 
by the beggarly elements of the world. Yet, within a few 
years, and especially during the present year, an aston- 
ishing change has been wrought there. The union of 
Church and State has become irksome and offensive in 
proportion to the progress of civil and religious liberty. 
Persons well informed in the affairs of France, say that 
faith in the " voluntary system/' and the disunion of State 
and Church, is making great progress among Catholics as 
well as Protestants ; and there is, in the Catholic church, 
a great disposition to throw off the supremacy of Rome. 
And such a sentiment, it is confidently believed, is per- 
vading most of the European states. The public mind is 
very generally agitated on this question. Societies are 
formed for the purpose of realizing such a result, and the 
spirit of the age favors it. 

2. To Puritanism we must accord the honor, under 
God, of developing a new element in the science of civil 
government — the moral element. Heretofore, bayonets 
and cannon had formed the substratum of governmental 
authority. Might gives right, was the motto of kings. 
Certain men were born to rule ; and certain others were 
as undoubtedly born to regale themselves in the royal 
sunshine ; and vastly larger classes of men, the masses, 
were as surely born for the king and his nobility, to live 
and toil for his profit, to be ruled for his pleasure, or to be 
" flesh for his cannon." Such is government by one man 
or by the few, who rule irrespectively of the suffrage or 



370 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

the good of the people. It is a government of force as 
opposed to a government of choice. The one requires 
implicit obedience, the other rational obedience. Under 
one, men worship gods they know not whom, and obey 
laws they know not what. Under the other, reason 
guides, and an enlightened private judgment decides. One 
is the self-government of rational and moral beings ; the 
other, the application, by a few, of brute force, to keep in 
subjection the mass. The one makes freemen, the other 
slaves. 

Liberty was born in America. Long had she travailed 
in birth in the Old World. Many a throe had convulsed 
Europe to the very centre, till, in this fair land, liberty 
first saw the light. There had been before much in the 
world called liberty, but it was the mere glimmering of 
star-light, or the meteor's blaze, compared with the full- 
orbed luminary which now arose. Puritanism gave birth, 
form and ascendency to the moral element in govern- 
ment. From time to time nations had given signs of woe, 
and sent up their aspirations for deliverance, vindicated 
their high claims to freedom, and gained a temporary re- 
lief. But it was in America the great experiment was 
first fairly tried, whether self-government is yet prac- 
ticable. And, though our ship has not steered clear of 
rocks and quicksands, nor shunned the storm and tempest, 
yet we have found our vessel sea- worthy, able to ride on 
the crested wave, and to breast the roaring storm. A 
result has already been gained, which has demolished 
thrones, and sent disease and decay into every system of 
absolutism in Europe. 

The Declaration of American Independence passed 
over Europe, yet it was as the voice of distant thunder. 
It was an ominous sound, starting from his throne the too 
long quiescent monarch. Yet the danger seemed distant. 
He hoped that that cloud, which turned so dark and 
threatening a face towards the kingly estates of Europe, 
yet a face so bright and promising towards the free-born 
sons of America, would scatter with a brief outburst of 
popular indignation. But the establishment of American 
Independence came like a thunder-bolt, or like the shock 
of an earthquake, and made thrones tremble. France first 



FRANCE THE LAST YEAR. 371 

received the shock, and, unprepared as she was, what a 
shock ! 

The French Revolution was a premature birth, and the 
birth of a monster, conceived in America, but gestated 
and brought forth under auspices altogether unfavorable 
to the beauty and proper development of the offspring — a 
monster-birth, whose history is written in violence, crime 
and blood. Yet it indicated the power of the new ele- 
ment which had been cast among the nations. It was a 
burning star cast into a stagnant sea. France was un- 
prepared, yet her mercurial sons, driven into a phrensy 
by the first gleam of liberty that flashed across the western 
main, kindled a fire, soon to be quenched in blood. 
Though smothered and quenched for a time, it burnt un- 
seen — its internal fires ever and anon finding vent in some 
outburst for liberty. We need not trace its several steps. 
Liberty was not extinct in France from the day of the 
return from America of young La Fayette to the event- 
ful twenty-third of February ; nor did she ever cease her 
struggle against the incubus of royalty when a befitting 
occasion offered. 

France has lived half a century within the last year. 
What she so long struggled for, she obtained in a day. 
Year after year the unseen Hand had been preparing 
men, means and resources, yet all things seemed to re- 
main as they were ; but the moment of consummation 
came, and all was done. And, what may well astonish 
the unbeliever in Divine Providence, all was done at the 
very moment when human sagacity, and diplomacy, and 
skill, and perseverance, were the most diligently employed 
to prevent such a result. Louis Phillippe is driven from 
his throne, the monarchy demolished, and a republic 
formed, just at the time, and in the manner, which seemed 
the most unrelentingly to mock all the efforts he had made, 
all the alliances he had formed, and all the precautions he 
had taken to ward off just such a disaster. With Paris 
so admirably fortified ; and a rich, numerous and influ- 
ential priesthood for his allies ; and the Pope as the right 
arm of his strength ; and a cringing alliance with England 
and Russia, there seemed — there was no human power 
that could molest him. Yet we see him fleeing from his 



372 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

palace and his throne, as helpless and unresisting, as if all 
human powers were in league against him. Providence 
had done with him and with his throne, and where is he? 

But what progress has liberty made in other States of 
Europe ? On the outbreak of the late French Revolution, 
the people of Holland demanded a larger liberty. The 
king is made to feel the necessity of granting it. He 
chooses new ministers — proposes important reforms in the 
constitution, and promises to govern agreeably to the na- 
tional will. The King of Belgium yields to the liberals, 
and on this condition keeps his crown. The kingdom of 
Prussia is shaken to its centre, and its republican tenden- 
cies are gaining the ascendency. Poland is agitated and 
ripe for revolt. Venice is a republic. 

But more remarkable than all, the stagnant waters of 
Austria are all at once thrown into a foam. The tide of 
revolution came rushing into Austria like a cataract. 
The Austrians had seemed completely under the yoke. 
Yet, in a moment, as unexpected to Prince Metternich as 
if the tenants of the grave-yard had awaked, the people 
aroused from their long sleep, and proclaimed democratic 
principles. Prince Metternich, who had, for more than 
forty years, ruled Austria with a rod of iron, flees before 
the vengeance of an indignant people — an idiot monarch 
quits his throne — despotism is struck to the heart, never 
to recover. 

All Germany, in a word, is on fire — insurrection is 
everywhere triumphant. Germany was the land of Mar- 
tin Luther, the land of reforms, in whose rich soil lie 
deeply planted the seeds of liberty. The waiting friends 
of freedom throughout Germany had felt the electric 
shock from Paris, and saw that their hour had come. 
Consternation and dismay seize the heart of every abso- 
lute power. The people seem rising over the continent 
like the waves of the ocean, and kings and ministers feel 
that their hour is come. The people are ripe for liberty, 
and now is the time to strike the blow for rights too long 
delayed. A German Parliament is convened, elected by 
universal suffrage, and composed of delegates from the 
kingdoms of Austria, Prussia, Hanover, Bavaria, and the 
smaller principalities. The objects of this parliament are, 



THE POPE AND LIBERTY. 373 

to unite all Germany into one confederation — to relieve 
the different states from the oppressions and exactions of 
their present rulers, and the more effectually to establish 
free institutions. This parliament is truly a strange 
feature in European politics, and a more sure index of the 
real progress of free principles than any thing we have 
yet seen. A promising feature, not of this parliament 
only, but of the French republic, is, that they have pro- 
claimed the true American doctrine of non-interference — 
a delightful pledge that when the moral element shall pre- 
dominate in the construction of governments, nations shall 
learn war no more. 

In Italy, too, liberal principles have made gigantic 
strides. Constitutional laws are universally promulgated. 
To say nothing of Sardinia and Florence, Naples and 
Milan, where the moral element is allowed to take the 
lead in the formation of their new governments, Pope 
Pius IX. was compelled to concede a constitutional gov- 
ernment to the long-oppressed and priest-ridden people of 
the Papal states. The press is made free — laymen are 
admitted to a participation in civil affairs — an inde- 
pendent judiciary is organized — a Chamber of Deputies 
is appointed by the people, and free schools for the poor 
are established in every district in Rome. An act was 
passed, April, 1848, to provide means for the better 
education of the people. Yet the battle in Italy is still to 
be fought. Here are the strong-holds of despotism. The 
grim giant, though bearded in his den, and lying prostrate 
with his deadly wound, fearfully growls, and rouses to the 
encounter. Rome is divided against herself — a pitiable 
anarchy. Two great conflicting parties have been con- 
tending for the mastery. On the one side, the Pope and 
his adherents ; on the other, the political councils and the 
legislative assemblies of the people. The irritation be- 
came more and more violent. The Pope had granted 
much ; the people demanded more. The Pope at length 
becomes virtually a prisoner in his own palace ; the car- 
dinals dare not appear in the streets ; many of the priests 
are ill-treated and even beaten, and the liberals openly 
declare that Pius IX. will be the last of the Popes. But 
the popular indignation against the ghostly tyranny of the 

32 



374 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

Vatican remained unappeased. Unwittingly had the peo- 
ple been allowed to taste the sweets of liberty. The 
clarion of freedom had sounded from afar. Crushed in 
the dust by the foot of the Beast, the poor, oppressed 
Italians start to their feet, awaked from a thousand years' 
slumber. The bow, too far bent, rebounds with a ven- 
geance. The Pope is driven from his palace, glad to 
wrap up his marvelous infallibility in a footman's coat, 
and to coil his once dreaded supremacy in a footman's 
hat. Democracy is in the ascendant ; the temporal power 
of the Pope is at present suspended. How the struggle 
shall end, remains to be seen. A coalition of Catholic 
powers may restore the Pope to his throne, and the power 
of the bayonet may, for a little time, keep him there. And 
this may be the occasion that shall light the torch of war, 
and set all Europe in a blaze. All this may be ; but that 
liberty will be again suppressed in Italy for any great 
length of time, and the Italians be made to bow again to 
the yoke, is less problematical. 

Cold murmurs of discontent are heard, too, from the 
hyperborean regions of the Muscovite Czar. The tocsin 
of liberty has been heard over Russia, and many a brave 
heart echoes back the sound. The Revolution of France 
came on Nicholas like a thunderbolt. His alliances with 
Austria and Prussia were disturbed, his plans defeated, or, 
at least, retarded. Nicholas received the dispatches an- 
nouncing the events of February with amazement. A 
deadly paleness came over his face as he read, and the 
paper trembled in his hand. A Republic in France ! A 
new appeal to the nations against tyranny ! A dan- 
gerous experiment for kings. A death-blow to tyrants. 
How this Anglo-Saxon element mocks the divine rights 
of kings, and proclaims the people the only legitimate 
sovereigns ! 

Nor have wretched Spain and Portugal escaped the 
shock. A suppressed but deep indignation rankles be- 
neath the surface of those ill-fated nations — an ominous 
calm that precedes the irruption of a volcano. 

All Europe is in motion — all Europe has entered on a 
new course of action. Altogether a new principle of 
government is in successful operation ; and though we 



LIBERTY AND THE JESUITS. 375 

may expect commotions, and anarchies, and re-actions — 
disorderly progress, and seemingly disastrous retrogres- 
sions, yet we may confidently await the establishment of 
a new order of things, which shall more beautifully har- 
monize with the present advanced state of Christianity, 
knowledge, and civilization. 

3. The progress of religious liberty in Europe still more 
directly illustrates the extended and the extending pro- 
gress of the Puritan leaven ; and indicates, too, the steady 
workings of a sleepless Providence. 

The progress of religious liberty has, within a few 
months, been truly astonishing. Since the breaking out 
of the late French Revolution, the severe laws against 
Protestants have been relaxed in every country in Europe. 
In some of these countries full religious toleration is al- 
ready enjoyed. The revolutionary tide spared not even 
the seven hills, demolishing dungeons and extinguishing 
the fires of persecution. The right of private judgment 
seems virtually conceded, even in Rome. The ancient 
Waldensian church, the true link between the apostolic 
age and ours, has at length been allowed liberty of con- 
science and of worship. Austria, despotic Austria, " whose 
frowning ramparts presented no chink through which even 
one ray of light might penetrate to the darkness within," 
is now open to the Bible and the missionary. In Ger- 
many all restraints to the spread of the gospel are removed. 
The Press is free, and never was its power more manifest 
than at the present moment. Full freedom of religious 
profession is enjoyed. The exercise of religious rights no 
longer depend on the profession of the Romish faith. 

And yet more astonishing has been the progress of re- 
ligious liberty in France. 

The zeal and prompt unanimity with which the Jesuits 
have been expelled from nearly every state in Europe, 
not excepting Rome, is an undoubted index of the prog- 
ress of religious liberty. The Jesuits are but too well 
known, the world over, as the implacable enemies of lib- 
erty, equality, and civilization — the sworn allies of abso- 
lutism — always ready to use the rod and the sword, to 
stifle the first symptoms of liberty, making religion the 
crudest weapon of oppression. This general and simulta- 



376 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

neous rising against the Jesuits, and a growing aversion to 
religious orders, is an unmistakable symptom of the prog- 
ress of free principles. The people of Europe have been 
brought to feel that liberty and the society of Ignatius can 
never prosper together. Their expulsion at this time is 
significant. Pius IX. had declared the Jesuits the strong 
and experienced oarsmen that keep from shipwreck the bark 
of St. Peter, yet he was obliged, in obedience to the de 
viands of the people, to expel them from the Papal states. 
The concession, significantly, bespeaks the weakness of 
Rome. The power of the Papacy is terribly shaken. 
Though still claiming infallibility in doctrine, the Pope 
very prudently concedes that " the Church must follow the 
necessary requirements of the age. v 

The opinion of a Romanist is worth something here. 
The Tablet, a Romish paper, says : " The rising persecu- 
tion is not confined to the Jesuits, but is directed against 
every religious community. The Dominicans, the Capu- 
chins, the Augustinians, have all received unequivocal 
notices of their approaching fate." And he might add 
the " Sisters of the Sacred Heart." While on the other 
hand it is now not uncommon to meet Romish ecclesi- 
astics, who, disgusted with the mummeries of Rome, 
boldly expose her errors — "earnestly advocating the 
abolition of compulsory celibacy of the clergy, the abro- 
gation of fasts and abstinences, and other Popish ob- 
servances." 

Thus is God moving on in the might and majesty of 
his providence, overturning and overturning, till his 
church shall be disenthralled from the bondage of the 
world, and established on the everlasting foundation of 
truth and righteousness. 

4. Or do we inquire after the causes of the great Euro- 
pean movement, we are again brought to the same con- 
clusion. These causes had been in secret and active 
operation, at least, since the American Revolution, and 
only waited a favorable opportunity. Intensely did the 
internal fires burn, and an irruption was inevitable. 
Liberal principles were daily gaining strength. All 
classes of the people were feeling their burdens more and 
more grievous, and their growing discontent gave no 



NAPOLEON AND LIBERTY. 377 

doubtful signs of an outbreak. Radicalism had given 
birth to numerous societies throughout Europe — many of 
them secret associations, all animated by one spirit, a de- 
termination to throw off the shackles of despotism. The 
death of Louis Phillippe should be the signal to strike the 
blow. The French Revolution, however, indicated that 
the hour had come. They arose by one common impulse, 
and despotism quailed before them. 

Again, facility of communication greatly hastened such 
a result. Books, journals, newspapers, travelers, reach 
the remotest parts of Europe in a few days, give timely 
notice of change, and communicate every new opinion. 
And all the vigilance and precautions of an argus-eyed 
absolutism cannot shut them out. The nations, as never 
before, flow together; a common sentiment pervades 
them. An electric spark thrilled Austria, Russia, Italy, 
Poland, the moment an explosion took place in France. 

We discover another cause in the fact, (instructive to 
kings,) that the potentates of Europe turned a deaf ear to 
the cries of their oppressed subjects. They had neither 
listened to their wants nor been careful to keep their en- 
gagements with them. Napoleon had done much to pre- 
pare Europe for liberty, and when the people of Europe 
were called on by the allied powers to take up arms 
against him, they did it with the promise that their rights 
should be respected, and liberal laws granted. The rulers 
promised, and the people freely shed their blood. But 
the danger past, the " scourge of Europe" put down, 
kings forgot their promises. " Austria did not grant to 
the Italians the institutions she promised. The king of 
Prussia conceded to his subjects only some petty reforms. 
Germany was held under a slavish yoke." Poland was 
crushed. Italy was left the miserable dupe of tyranny — 
the prey of every unclean bird. Nowhere was there re- 
spect for law, or security against arbitrary power. The 
rights of conscience were systematically invaded. The 
judiciary was a mere tool for kings. " The nations bowed 
their necks, but they meditated the hour of deliverance. 
That hour is come ; they have seized it ; they have risen 
like one man, and the well-trained armies 01 kings have 

32* 



378 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

scarcely opposed an obstacle to the realization of their 
wishes." 

The day of retribution has come. Kings tremble, and 
their thrones crumble. The haughtiest monarchs, who 
could once insolently put their foot on the neck of na- 
tions, now in vain sue for mercy at the hands of their re- 
volted subjects. Deeply, indeed, do they drink to the 
dregs the cup of their debasement. The last was a hard 
year for kings. Late have they learned the humiliating 
lesson that kings are made for the people, not the people 
for kings ; that the rights of the people are as sacred as 
those of princes, and that their only chance for quiet and 
safety, is to live in good understanding with their sub- 
jects. 

The downfall of Louis Phillippe is here ominously in- 
structive. What would a serious observer of Providence 
expect would be the end of a powerful prince in the 
nineteenth century, who should pursue the course 
Louis Phillippe pursued ? Did he so demean himself in 
the high and responsible station to which Providence ex- 
alted him — especially when we bring into the account 
the manner and condition of his taking the crown — did he 
so demean himself as to guarantee the continued smiles 
of Heaven ? In many respects Louis Phillippe was a 
very worthy man. He possessed many excellent traits 
of character. But in his regal life, when weighed in the 
balance, he was found wanting. He did more than to 
commit fatal political blunders. His sceptre was stained 
with palpable injustice and outrage, both towards man and 
God. He came to the throne as a liberal prince. Heaven 
and earth heard his vows, that he would reign as a re- 
publican king; would surround the monarchy with re- 
publican institutions. The people, whose voice called 
him to the throne, hailed him as a father and a friend — 
the deliverer of an oppressed people from the thraldom 
of Bourbon despotism. And the Protestant world had 
reason to expect he would reign, at least, as a liberal 
Catholic prince. France and the world too well know 
how he has cringed to the most miserable system of ab- 
solutism. Had Louis Phillippe been half so ambitious to 
retain the good opinion of his people as he was to main- 



LOUIS PHILLIPPE. 379 

tain his throne and to vindicate his legitimacy ; at least, 
had he been half so ambitious to render stipulated justice 
to his people, he might still have been the king of a pros- 
perous and affectionate people. Or had he been half $o 
careful to act the liberal Catholic prince, extending the 
arms of his regal influence to promote, wherever French 
interests exist, education, civilization and Christianity, as 
he was to impose, by his strong arm, on an unoffending 
people just emerging from heathenism, corps after corps 
of Romish priests, who, he could not but know, would, if 
they acted in character, cripple, and, if possible, destroy 
every Protestant mission within their influence, he might 
still have been the head of a great and noble nation, on 
whom should come the blessing of many. That dark 
page in the history of Tahiti, will ever remain a darker 
page — an indelible disgrace, in the history of Louis 
Phillippe. When he directed his cannon against that 
newly Christian island, he directed them against his own 
throne. Those missions live and prosper, while Louis 
Phillippe has gone into an inglorious exile. An influence 
exerted in Greece, flowing from the throne of France, 
drove Dr. King from Athens and from his mission, a tem- 
porary wanderer ; Dr. King has returned to his work, and 
Louis Phillippe has bid farewell to his throne forever ! # 

We may subjoin as subordinate causes of his downfall, 
regal extravagance, heavy taxation, a monstrous army, 
the fortifications of Paris, opposition to electoral reforms, 
the press subjected to vexatious embarrassments, money 
and other favors lavished on the priesthood, with a 
hypocritical attachment to Popery, hoping thereby to 
strengthen his dynasty at the expense of the people. 
Like Saul, who, in his troubles, had recourse to the witch 
of Endor, Louis Phillippe sought the favor of the Romish 
clergy, flattered the bishops, and favored the establish- 
ment of monasteries. But this resource failed him, and 
did but hasten his downfall. Such are some of the 
causes which irrepressibly irritated the public mind, and 

* The very law which had been so often, of late years, applied by Louis Phil- 
lippe and his government to impede the spread of the gospel, and suppress free discus- 
sion, became, at length, the occasion of his own downfall. Discern ye not the Hand of 
God? 



380 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

made the revolution inevitable. The Lord was departed 
from Saul, and he was sore distressed. 

And, finally, the Bible has had much to do in producing 
tflfe late religious and political convulsions in Europe. 
The Bible is a revolutionary book, meaning by revolution 
an advance of right opinions, manners and constitutions ; 
a resistance of oppression and monopolies ; a demand for 
liberty and natural rights. The word of God is a great 
leveler, which is upturning and overturning this wicked, 
distracted world, and preparing it for a complete civil and 
religious renovation. It is not too much to believe that 
the million of Bibles, which have been circulated in 
France during the last five years, have been a powerful 
element in the present downfall of despotism ; the break- 
ing up of old foundations to make way for better. And, 
what is prospectively encouraging for France and the 
nations that easily adopt her opinions, the late revolution 
has, in a remarkable manner, opened the door for a more 
abundant and effectual introduction of the Bible. 

Through the admirable system of Bible colportage, the 
Sacred Scriptures are being distributed throughout 
France, in every condition of society. The cottage, the 
palace, the soldier, the sailor, the school, are, without let 
or hinderance, visited by the indefatigable colporteur, and 
blessings follow T in his track. Here lies our brightest an- 
ticipation for France. 

The revolution has brought to light an amount of 
Protestantism in France, which was not before supposed 
to exist. Villages, where a Protestant could not find a 
congregation, if allowed to preach at all, have dismissed 
their Catholic cure, and called in evangelical ministers. 
All the religious societies find large fields open to their ef- 
forts, which they are prevented from occupying only by 
the want of the pecuniary resources. 

Thus has the great idea, so happily conceived — di- 
vinely suggested — in the Mayflower, been steadily and 
gradually developing, and never more gloriously than at 
the present moment. God may be seen in its progress at 
every step. The Lion of the tribe of Judah has been 
steadily opening the unsealed Book ; the eternal decrees 
have been unfolding, and being executed by an Almighty 



EUROPE REGENERATED. 381 

Providence, and nothing has been able to retard their 
progress. The kings of the earth have set themselves, 
and the rulers taken counsel against the Lord, and 
against his anointed. But all their counsel and wisdom 
have been brought to naught. He that sitteth in the 
heavens has had them in derision. He has spoken to 
them in his wrath, and vexed them in his sore displeasure. 
Never was the skill, sagacity and power of man more 
signally foiled; never the wisdom and power of God 
more illustriously magnified. Austria, France, Italy, had 
done all that human sagacity and forecast could do, to 
save their thrones and their despotisms from the invading 
tide of popular reform. But it came, rolling over the 
troubled billows of the Atlantic, and all the strong-built 
fortresses of despotism, and triple lines of restrictions to 
shut out liberal opinions, and an unholy coalition with a 
corrupt priesthood, and the well taught doctrines of ab- 
solutism, and the profoundest skill of man and the power 
of the bayonet were but cobwebs. 

Europe has been swept over as by a tornado ; yet we 
confidently look that when this desolating tornado shall 
have passed by — desolating only to the towering fabrics 
of aristocratic pride and regal tyranny, and a grasping, 
ambitious priestcraft, we shall see a fairer temple arise, 
the temple of universal liberty, adorned with intelligence 
and virtue, where men, politically and socially free, shall 
rest from the turmoils of revolution — the temple of a 
pure religion, too, of a free and ennobling Christianity, 
all radiant with the wisdom and purity and glory of 
heaven. 

Such we anticipate as the glorious consummation of the 
present desolating revolutions in Europe. Anarchy may 
for a time prevail ; darkness and confusion, for a time, 
cover those lands which have so long been covered with 
darkness and confusion, but we look for the time, as not 
distant, when the great hammer of Revolution shall 
have done its work ; when the huge, confused mass of 
broken materials shall have been cast into the great cru- 
cible of the Almighty Hand, and fused, and a new order 
of things shall follow ; a remodeling of the nations ; of 
their governments ; an establishment of universal liberty 



382 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

and a re-installment of Christianity on the simplicity and 
purity of her ancient foundation, disenthralled from her 
present cumbrous trappings and carnal armor ; when she 
shall renew her youth, and " rejoice as a young man to 
run a race." 

The little ripple, produced in the great waters of hu- 
man activity by the Puritan fathers, two hundred years 
ago, and which, to all human sagacity, seemed likely to 
die away almost as soon as produced, or to be merged in 
the billows of the ocean, becomes itself a mighty wave, 
rolling over the whole continent westward, and seeming 
to renew its strength as it crosses the Atlantic, and 
sweeps, like an overwhelming surge, over every nation in 
Europe. Roll on, ye heaven-sent billows, till despotism, 
and bigotry, and priestcraft, and every thing that opposes 
an heaven-born religion and a divine liberty, shall be 
crushed beneath your power. May the Lord hasten it in 
his time. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



Remarkable providences— small beginnings, and great results. Abraham. Joseph. 
Moses. David. Ruth. Ptolemy's map. Printing. The Mayflower. Bunyan. 
John Newton. The old marine. The poor Choctaw boy. The linen seller. Rus- 
sian Bible Society. The little girl's tears, and Bible Societies. Conclusion. 

u Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth" 

After having completed the task originally contem- 
plated, there still remained in our repository, slips, mem- 
oranda, a budget of unappropriated items ; not a few in- 
stances of remarkable providential interpositions, which 
did not find a place in the general illustration of our sub- 
ject, but which all go to illustrate it. We shall, therefore, 
give some of these a place in a concluding chapter. 

It cannot but interest the pious mind, and confirm the 



SMALL BEGINNINGS AND GREAT RESULTS. 383 

wavering, doubting soul, and quell the rising fears of un- 
belief, and give confidence in God's purposes and promises, 
and foster a delightful anticipation of the certain triumph 
of Christ's kingdom on earth, to see how, out of small be- 
ginnings, God is wont often to bring the most stupendous 
results ; setting at naught the wisdom of man ; ordering 
strength out of weakness, and making the most wonder- 
ful effects follow the most unlikely and insignificant 
causes. The following instances will farther illustrate 
the mode of providential agency in carrying out the great 
work of human salvation ; 

Scripture history is full of illustrations of this sort. It 
seemed a small matter that Abram should emigrate from 
his country, an adventurer into some strange land, he 
knows not where. Thousands might have done the 
same; and the fact of his departure seemed an affair 
likely to concern few beyond his own particular family. 
But what did God bring out of this small matter ? Abram, 
the chosen progenitor of a great nation, should take pos- 
session of the promised land — be the father of the faithful — 
his numerous seed be the people with whom God should 
enter into covenant ; with whom, deposit his revealed 
will ; with whom were the promises, and through whom, 
all nations should be blessed. That quiet, unpretending 
departure of the son of Terah from Chaldea, was the 
humble beginning of the most remarkable series of events 
which go to make up the history of our world. It was 
the preliminary step to the founding of the Jewish com- 
monwealth ; a civil polity which has exerted a more con- 
trolling influence among the nations of the earth, than 
any empire that ever existed ; and the preliminary step, 
too, to the founding of the Jewish church, which was a 
remarkable advance on any prior dispensation of grace, 
as well as an efficient instrument in the progress of hu- 
man redemption. As long as the world stands, the in- 
fluence of that act shall be felt. As long as heaven en- 
dures, the spirit of just men made perfect shall bless God 
for the call of Abraham, and angels shall join in the cho- 
rus of thanksgiving \p the Lamb. 

It was a small matter that Joseph should dream a 
dream ; or, that the daughter of Pharaoh should discover, 



384 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

while bathing in the Nile, an ark of rushes, floating on 
the river ; or, that the same casualty should befall Dan- 
iel, which fell to the lot of many a noble youth of that 
day, to be transported from his native hills of Palestine to 
an unwelcome captivity in Babylon. Each of these 
seemingly unimportant incidents was the first link in a 
chain of stupendous events. Great and noble purposes 
were answered by the captivity of Joseph in Egypt, and 
of Daniel in Babylon ; and, perhaps, to no mere man that 
ever lived, has the church and the world been so much in- 
debted as to Moses. He was a signal instrument in the 
hands of God for civil, social and moral advancement. 
In that little rush bark lay the germ of the most extraor- 
dinary reform and advancement in every thing that per- 
tains to the best interests of man, both in this world and 
the world to come. 

Or, we might speak of David — the trivial circumstance 
of his being sent, when a mere lad, with supplies for his 
brethren, who were serving in Saul's army, leads, very 
unexpectedly, to his successful encounter with the giant ; 
to his signalizing himself in the sight of all Israel, and to 
the illustrious course which he afterwards pursued as the 
head of the chosen nation, and the guide and teacher of 
the church. He was an illustrious type of Christ, and an 
extraordinary instrument in forwarding the great work of 
human salvation. No one can trace up, step by step, the 
history of the son of Jesse, from the time that, in obscurity 
and in his childish simplicity, he watched his father's 
flocks in Bethlehem, till, with a " perfect heart," he sat on 
the throne of Israel, and wielded the destinies of the 
chosen tribes, and not admire the wonder-working hand 
of God, in so controlling human events as to bring the 
most extraordinary and far-reaching results out of the 
most simple, and, aparently, insignificant causes. 

Or, we might, ere this, have spoken of Ruth. It was a 
little matter that Abimelech, of Bethlehem- Judah, goes to 
sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and two 
sons, because of a famine. Many others do the same. 
Abimelech dies ; the sons take wives of the daughters of 
Moab, and soon die. The widowed mother turns her 
eyes longingly towards her native land, and resolves to 



PTOLEMY AND HIS MAP. 385 

return. Her daughters-in-law propose to accompany 
her. One relents, and returns to her people and her 
idols ; the other perseveres, and casts in her lot with Na- 
omi and the people of God. By a felicitous train of cir- 
cumstances, all beautifully providential, Ruth becomes 
the wife of Boaz, who was the father of Obed, who was 
the father of Jesse, the father of David. We trace back 
to that little Moabitess girl the lineage of the most illus- 
trious race of kings, of which was David, the sweet singer 
of Israel, and Solomon, the great and the wise, who raised 
Israel to the acme of national glory ; yea, the lineage of 
the King of kings, the Prince and Saviour of the world. 
A glorious issue from a most insignificant source ! 

Profane history furnishes illustrations scarcely less in- 
teresting, of the same overruling Hand, so controlling all 
the events of this lower world, as best to subserve the 
great scheme of redemption. 

A little mistake, (probably a mishap of ignorance,) is 
made by Ptolemy in drawing up a map of the world. 
He extended the eastern parts of the continent of Asia so 
enormously as to bring it round almost in contact with 
the western parts of Europe and Africa, of course making 
the distance across the Atlantic ocean to Asia but trifling. 
Consulting this map, Columbus conceived the idea of ef- 
fecting a passage to India by a westerly route. Hence 
the discovery of America. And though he must first dis- 
cover Ptolemy's mistake, and encounter difficulties of 
which in the outset he had no conception, yet his mind 
having become fired with ardor for discovery, his prepa- 
rations being made, and his zeal not easily abated, he 
pressed forward, not over a sea of a few hundred miles, 
but of thousands, till the expected land appeared. "A 
little fire" was kindled in his ardent soul for discovery, 
the result was an immensely " great matter," the discov- 
ery of a new world, the magnitude of which we have yet 
scarcely more than begun to see, and which we can 
never estimate, till we shall see the end of the magnifi- 
cent plans which God has to accomplish in connection 
with the American continent. 

So it was a little matter that a Dutchman should cut a 
few letters of the alphabet on the bark of a tree, and then, 

33 



380 HAND OF COD IN HISTORY. 

by means of ink, transfer an impression of them on pa- 
per. But here was the rude idea of printing. Nor did it 
seem a much greater matter that he should, (as the first 
improvement of the art,) cut letters in blocks of wood, 
which he used for types, to print whole pages for the 
amusement of his children. This was the day of "small 
things." But if vou have a mind far-reaching enough to 
measure the present power of the press ; its power to 
perpetuate the arts and sciences ; to control mind ; to in- 
struct and reform men, and, by a thousand ways, con- 
tribute to the advancement of our race, you can tell how 
" great a matter" this art of printing is. 

Again, a vessel of a hundred and eighty tons is a 
small affair. Had you seen her afar off on the bosom of 
the broad Atlantic, a mere speck in the horizon, tossed 
like a feather on the huge waves, nearing the rock-bound 
coast of New England, you would not have suspected her 
laden with aught that should particularly effect the des- 
tinies of the American continent. The Mayflower was 
laden with about one hundred persons, men, women and 
children, with their implements of husbandry and trade, 
with their books and Bibles, their preachers and teachers. 
A somewhat singular freighting! yet even curiosity 
would have dismissed any raised hope of signal good to 
come from such an enterprise w 7 hen they were seen to 
land on Plymouth Rock; to cast their destinies, at the 
very commencement of a stern New England winter, on 
that wild, inhospitable shore. To all human sagacity, 
they must perish amidst the frosts and snows ; or, should 
they escape the severity of the climate, die with hunger, 
or fall by savage hands. Many did die ; all suffered se- 
verely ; and many a hard year's toil, trial and suffering, 
passed by before the world could see that the arrival and 
settlement in this country of our Pilgrim fathers was 
more than a quixotic expedition of a few refugees from 
Europe. 

But what has God brought out of it ? There was hid in 
that little nut-shell of a vessel, the germ of our free insti- 
tutions, of our present advanced condition of knowledge 
and virtue. Wrapped up in the bosoms of the men that 
occupied the cabin of the Mayflower, were the principles 



JOHN BUNYAN. 387 

and ideas which, when developed and clothed in real 
acts and institutions, presented to the world a form of 
government, and a pure, evangelical, free Christianity, 
and a system of popular education and of morals, and an 
industry and enterprise, and inventive genius, which, un- 
der God, have made our country what she is. And if 
any one can estimate the influence on our country and on 
the world, of the practical working of the principles im- 
ported in the Mayflower, he can tell us how great a mat- 
ter has sprung from so small a beginning. 

Puritanism, wherever found, embodies the elements of 
progress and improvement. It is this that has given 
character to our nation ; developed the resources of our 
country ; penetrated our mountains and brought out their 
wealth ; made our rivers highways ; secured our water- 
power ; filled our land with books and schools and teach- 
ers, and made us a great, noble and prosperous nation. 
It is Puritanism that has given new form and power to 
the church ; that has clothed Christianity in a more beau- 
tiful garment, and breathed into her the breath of life. 

A few individual instances may be adduced to illustrate 
the same truth. 

A sturdy Puritan is serving in the parliamentary army 
under Oliver Cromwell. At the siege of Leicester, in 1645, 
he is drawn out to stand sentinel ; a comrade, by his own 
consent, takes his place, and is shot through the head at his 
post. Thus was John Bunyan, whose life had already 
twice been saved from the most imminent danger of 
drowning, again spared an untimely death. Though long 
since dead, he yet speaketh to millions in his own lan- 
guage, and to as many millions in other tongues ; one of 
the most signal instruments for good that ever lived. 
John Newton was another chosen vessel ; and how did 
God watch over him when calamity, pestilence or dis- 
ease was near, and shield him from danger, while yet his 
heart was enmity to God. We quote a single instance : 
" Though remarkable for his punctuality, one day some 
business so detained him that he came to his boat much 
later than usual, much to the surprise of those who had 
observed his former punctuality. He went out in his 
boat, as heretofore, to inspect a ship, but the ship blew up 



388 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

just before he reached her." Had he arrived a few min- 
utes sooner, he must have perished with those on board. 

Again, an obscure Highlander boy is taught the first 
principles of our religion by his humble parents amidst 
the glens of Scotland. He early learns to revere the Bi- 
ble, and to honor God and the religion of his fathers. 
We next hear of him, in mature years, a marine on board 
a British man-of-war. A battle rages. The deck is 
swept by a tremendous broadside from the enemy. Cap- 
tain Haldane orders another company to be "piped up" 
from below to take the place of the dead. On coming up 
they are seized with a sudden and irresistible panic at 
the mangled remains of their companions strewed on the 
deck. On seeing this, the Captain swore a horrid oath, 
wishing them all in hell. A pious old marine, (our High- 
land boy,) stepped up to him, and very respectfully touch- 
ing his hat, said, "Captain, I believe God hears prayer, 
and if he had heard your prayer just now, what would 
have become of us ?" Having spoke this, he made a re- 
spectful bow and retired to his place. After the engage- 
ment, the Captain calmly reflected on the words of the 
old marine, which so affected him that he devoted his at- 
tention to the claims of religion, and became a pious 
man. 

Through his instrumentality his brother, Robert Hal- 
dane, though at first contemptuously rejecting his kind at- 
tentions, was brought to reflection, and became a decided 
Christian. 

James Haldane, (the Captain,) became a preacher, and 
is pastor of a church in Edingburgh. Robert subsequently 
settled in Geneva, and being much affected by the low 
spiritual condition of the Protestant church there, and 
the neological views of the clergy, he sought an acquaint- 
ance with the students of the theological school, invited 
them to his house, gained their confidence, and finally be- 
came the means of the conversion of ten or twelve, 
among whom were Felix Neff, Henry Pyt, and J. H. 
Merle D'Aubigne. Few men have so honorably and 
successfully served their Divine Master as NefF and Pyt ; 
and few fill so large a sphere in the world of usefulness as 
the President of the theological school at Geneva, and the 



DIXON W. LEWIS. 389 

author of the immortal History of the Reformation ; and 
. few spots on earth are so precious to the truth, as the city 
of Geneva. It was a "little fire" that kindled these great 
lights, and made the ancient and honorable city of Calvin 
once more worthy of that great name ; it was a little 
spark, struck from the luminous soul of a poor Highlander, 
and well lodged in the soul of his unpretending boy. 

After preaching successively and successfully in Berlin, 
Hamburgh and Brussels, D'Aubigne was, providentially, 
brought back to Geneva, his native city, which event led 
to the establishment there of the present evangelical 
"school of the prophets," with D'Aubigne at its head. 
This seminary is the hope of piety in Germany ; the cit- 
adel of the doctrines of the ever blessed Reformation ; a 
fountain sending out the healing streams of salvation to 
all Europe, and to the waste places of the Gentiles. 

A poor Choctaw boy, (Dixon W. Lewis,) is seen wan- 
dering in the streets of Mobile ; is taken into the house of 
a kind Christian lady, and fed at her table. The blessing 
she piously asked before eating, impressed him deeply, 
though he understood not a word of it. He is sent to a 
Sabbath-school, learns to read, and is converted. The 
Juvenile Missionary Society of Mobile send him to the 
Alabama Centenary Institute, and thence to Emory Col- 
lege, Georgia. In 1846, he is licensed to preach, and ap- 
pointed to labor among a remnant of his own tribe, in 
Kember County, Mississippi. His people, though not a 
Christian among them, build him a school-house and a 
church. His school opens with thirty-six scholars, from 
the child of five years old, to the adult of thirty-eight. 
He instructs them, prays with them, and in three months 
thirty-two of them are converted. At the close of his 
conference year, he reports one hundred and three con- 
versions, and a church organized among the Choctaws, 
ninety-eight strong. His father was among the converts, 
and many of his relations, and an old man of more than a 
hundred years old. 

A young man from the highlands of Averne, in France, 
is selling linen in a neighboring department ; is met by a 
Protestant ; taken to a place of evangelical worship ; he 
hears, believes, embraces the truth — exchanges his wares 

83* 



390 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

for Bibles and tracts, which he widely distributes at his 
own expense. He writes to his parents and friends — the 
declaration of his new sentiments excites a general in- 
quiry, and the curate forbids his letters to be read. The 
young man in due time returns ; his neighbors and friends 
gather about him. The curate attempts to convince him 
in the presence of his father ; but failing, the father and 
the whole family, and many others, are led to forsake 
Rome ; a good work begins in the neighborhood, a mis- 
sionary is sent for, with the prospect that the whole re- 
gion will be evangelized. 

Many have been the instances of late in France, where 
the slightest, apparently the most insignificant circum- 
stance, has thus been the occasion not only of introducing 
the gospel to a certain spot, but of diffusing it till the 
whole province be turned from Rome, and evangelized. 

In the latter years of Alexander, Emperor of Russia, 
there existed in that vast and semi-barbarous country, a 
Russian Bible Society, w T hich distributed, under the fa- 
voring auspices of the Emperor, a vast many copies of 
the Sacred Scriptures, and accomplished much good. In 
1818, it had one hundred and twenty-eight branch societies, 
and had printed the Bible in twenty-eight languages. 
But where, among the mountains of that desert clime, 
shall we look for the little rill that gave rise to this fer- 
tilizing river ? I see it in the far-off region of Moscovia ; 
and its incipient streamlet sparkles in the light of the 
flames of that ancient capital. The Rev. Mr, P. is pass- 
ing through Moscow on his way to England ; is invited 
to the house of the Russian Princess M., who had just re- 
turned from the exile into which she had been driven on 
the invasion of Napoleon, and finally becomes the 
teacher of her children. He employs the influence of his 
station for the spiritual interests of benighted Russia. 
And especially did he, through the influence of the 
Princess, obtain a rescript for the formation of the first 
Russian Bible Society. It arose amidst the ashes of the 
ancient capital ; another of those lights which gleamed 
up from the confused darkness and the fiery upheavings 
of the career of Napoleon Bonaparte. 

This brings to our recollection the case of a yet larger 



GOD TAKES TIME. 391 

river which arose from a still smaller rill : A Welch cler- 
gyman asks a little girl for the text of his last sermon 
The child gave no answer — she only wept. He ascer- 
tained that she had no Bible in which to look for the text. 
And this led him to inquire whether her parents or neigh- 
bors had a Bible ; and this led to that meeting in London 
in 1804, of a few devoted Christians, to devise means to 
supply the poor in Wales with the Bible, the grand issue of 
which was the formation of the British and Foreign Bible 
Society — a society which has already distributed more 
than 15,000,000 copies of the Bible — its issues now reach- 
ing nearly a million and a half annually. And this, in 
turn, led to the formation of the American Bible Society, 
and to the w T hole beautiful cluster of sister institutions 
throughout the world, which are so many trees of life, 
bearing the golden fruits of immortality among all the na- 
tions of the earth. This mighty river, so deep, so broad, 
so far-reaching in its many branches, we may trace back 
to the tears of that little girl. Behold, what a great fire 
a little matter kindleth. 

But it is time that the subject of this volume be brought 
to a conclusion. And to what conclusion shall we come ? 
We can scarcely trace the footsteps of Providence through 
so long a period of time, and over so varied a field, 
without being impressed with the majesty, and wisdom, 
and power of Him who directs every wheel of the great 
providential scheme, and brings to pass his own predes- 
tined results. In the review of our subject, we are brought, 
at least, to the following conclusions : 

1. That, in working out the stupendous problem of the 
redemption of men and of nations, God takes time. Moral 
revolutions are of slow development. The works of 
Providence, more especially, perhaps, than those of crea- 
tion, have a direct reference to the display of the Divine 
character, and to the exhibition of man's character. It 
was needful, therefore, that these works be prolonged — 
that the book of Providence lie open continually for pe- 
rusal. It had been easy for God to speak the heavens 
and the earth and all therein, into existence in a moment 
of time — instantaneously to give form, fertility and beauty 
to the earth, and matured perfection to the animal, min- 



392 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

eral, and vegetable worlds. But God chose to lay open 
his works to inspection, that they might be examined 
piece by piece. It had been easy for God to have brought 
his Son to die a sacrifice for sin, immediately on the fall 
of man. But a thousand sublime purposes had then failed — 
God's glory had been eclipsed, and man's redemption been 
another thing. Four thousand years should be filled up 
in preparation — not a change or a revolution should 
transpire which was not tributary to the one great pur- 
pose. The Hand of God was all this time busy in well- 
directed efforts — not an abortive movement, not a mis- 
take, not a retrograde motion, did he make. All was 
onward, and onward as rapidly as the nature of the work 
permitted. There was neither hurry nor delay. 

God, as a perfect Architect, is rearing, in this world of 
ours, a perfect building. We believe the golden age of 
the earth is to return, when Christianity shall be glorified 
as one complete and perfect Temple. But this Temple 
shall be constructed of pre-existing materials. All sorts 
of systems, religions, politics, and ethics, have been per- 
mitted to exist, the perfect with the imperfect, the good 
with the bad. And it has, in all past time, been the work 
of the Hand of Providence, to overrule, select, reject, and 
out of the good and acceptable, to rear the perfect build- 
ing. Our present civilization, and systems of free gov- 
ernment, and of morals, are results of former facts, sys- 
tems and experiences — structures formed from the ruins 
of former edifices — compounds, from various gone-by in- 
gredients ; all thrown into the crucible of human prog- 
ress, fused, and run in a new mould. And may we not, 
philosophically speaking, say the same of our religion ? 
Shall not tne perfect building be reared in the same man- 
ner ? — be wrought out of materials selected and brought 
together by the ever-busy Hand of Providence, from every 
system, organization, form of government and religion, 
which ever existed ? — the eternal mind so overruling the 
whole as to bring good out of all ? If so, we see reason 
enough why God should take time to consummate his one 
great final purpose. 

Again, it had been easy for God to settle his people at 
once in the goodly land, without the migratory life of the 



INDIRECT RESULTS. 393 

Patriarchs, or the bondage of Egypt, or deliverance from 
. the hand of Pharaoh, or the forty years' wanderings, hard- 
ships and temptations of the wilderness ; yet their settle- 
ment in Palestine would, then, have been no more than 
the making stationary any other wandering tribes from 
the desert. The history of that whole eventful period 
was full of God and his grace, full of man and his rebellion. 
Or the Reformation of the sixteenth century might have 
been the work of a day, instead of a result of three cen- 
turies' preparation. Or the teeming millions of Asia 
might have received the gospel without a train of pre- 
paratory events running through several centuries, ex- 
hibiting the wickedness and the withering influences of 
idolatry ; the inefficacy of every conceivable form of error 
and false religion, to ameliorate the civil, social and reli- 
gious condition of a nation ; and finally producing the 
conviction that nothing short of a pure Christianity can 
do it. Or the dark continent of Africa might have been 
evangelized in a single generation, instead of the pro- 
tracted, mysterious process, which Providence has pur- 
sued, administering a burning rebuke on Africa for her 
long-protracted sins, as a grossly wicked abettor of the 
slave-trade, yet visiting the captives in their cruel bondage, 
and by his converting grace preparing thousands to re- 
turn to that ill-fated land, laden with the best of Heaven's 
blessings for poor, forsaken Africa. Had the shorter pro- 
cess been pursued, God's glory and his abounding, con- 
descending grace had been but sparingly developed, and 
man's sin but partially exposed. God takes time. 

2. We may infer, from facts stated, that often the ori- 
ginal and direct object which men have in view in their 
endeavors to do good, or to benefit themselves, is of less 
importance than the incidental and indirect objects which 
Providence brings out of it. We may be doing the 
greatest good where we least suspect it. The original 
and direct object for which Columbus entered upon the 
adventurous voyage across the Atlantic, was to find a 
shorter passage to India. The incidental advantage which 
was gained by the prosecution of the enterprise, was the 
discovery of the New World. The alchemists toiled for 
generations, in pursuit of the philosopher's stone : their 



394 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

original and direct object was of no value. Yet their re- 
searches incidently led to the discovery of facts, in con- 
nection with the properties and composition of bodies, 
which served as the foundation of the science of modern 
chemistry. The inventor of 'printing had no object in view 
beyond the amusement of his children or of himself; or, 
at farthest, his own emolument. The incidental benefits 
are world-wide, and past all human calculation. Luther 
buckles on the harness as a Reformer, simply to oppose an 
abuse in the sale of indulgences ; at first, perhaps, incited 
only by the fact that that sale was likely to be monopo- 
lized by the Dominican monks. The incidental advantage 
w r hich grew out of the original controversy, was the ever 
glorious Reformation. Some men toil all their life long to 
accumulate wealth, a penny of which they will not give 
to the Lord, yet the Lord takes the whole in the end. 
Others, like Saul of Tarsus, toil for years to perfect them- 
selves in learning for some selfish end ; God frustrates them 
in that, yet makes them accomplish an infinitely more 
worthy end in the building up of the Redeemer's king- 
dom. Nations engage in expensive, bloody wars, for most 
unworthy, trifling purposes ; He that sitteth King of the 
nations brings out of such wars incidental advantages of 
a noble and enduring character. One nation is thereby 
opened to receive the gospel, and, in another, mountain- 
like obstacles to the setting up of the kingdom of Christ, 
are removed. Man, in his schemes and operations, means 
one thing ; God, in his plans and agencies, means quite 
another thing. Hence, 

3. We may with perfect confidence leave results with 
God. God will complete what he has begun. Not one 
of his purposes can fail. Man sees but a little way ; God 
sees to the end. Examples already referred to will illus- 
trate the thought. Little did the young Chaldean ad- 
venturer anticipate the illustrious race of kings that should 
descend from his loins, or his more illustrious spiritual 
seed. Little did he conceive that his departure from 
Chaldea was the first link of a most brilliant series of 
events. Little conscious were the brethren of Joseph, 
when they nefariously sold their brother into slavery ; or 
Pharaoh's daughter, when she drew the babe Moses from 



RESULTS ARE GOD's. 395 

the rush cradle; or the captors of Daniel, when they 
forced him into exile, that theirs were preliminary steps 
to the establishment of a power which has again and again 
revolutionized the world, and shall continue to revolu- 
tionize it till the kingdoms of this world shall become the 
kingdom of our Lord. Little did Columbus think of the 
amazing consequences which have resulted to mankind 
from his adventures ; or the Pilgrim fathers, the grand and 
truly astonishing effects of their zeal, and faith, and love 
of liberty, in their consequences on the history of man- 
kind ; or Faust, in his invention of the art of printing ; or 
Luther, in his bold essays to reform a corrupt church. 
And that little band of Christians met in London to de- 
vise means of supplying the poor in Wales w r ith the Bible, 
were as far from foreseeing that their deliberations should 
result in the formation of the British and Foreign Bible 
Society, which, with affiliated societies, (all her own le- 
gitimate daughters,) should so soon enter on the work of 
giving the sacred volume to the entire world. And as 
little did Robert Raikes think what an instrument for the 
renovation of the world he had originated, when, having 
gathered about him a few beggarly children in the by- 
ways of London, he embodied the idea suggested by a 
benignant Providence into the form of a Sabbath-school. 
A child may set a stone rolling which the mightiest man 
cannot stop. 

We look back through nearly sixty centuries, and see 
with what a steady, irresistible step God has carried for- 
ward the great work. Not a failure has occurred — not 
a mistake — not an obstacle that could stand in the way. 
The mountain has been made a plain when He would 
pass over. Kingdoms and dominions — the stateliest 
fabrics of human power and skill have been as nothing 
before" him — as the cobweb in the path of the giant. 
What perfect confidence may we then have that God will 
complete what he has begun ; and especially as we now 
see he is, as never before, bringing all things into sub- 
serviency to the one great end. Learning, skill, inven- 
tions, improvements, discoveries, governments, all human 
activity is so shaped, or such a tendency given to it, that 



396 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

it is made, in an unwonted manner, to subserve the work 
of human salvation. 

4. Another conclusion to which we arrive is, that the 
church is safe. No opposition has ever prevailed, no 
weapon formed against her, prospered. Ten heathen per- 
secutions raged, and their fire was hot enough to dissolve 
any thing but God's Church. In the last, her enemies 
boasted that " now they had done the business for the 
Christians, and overthrown the Christian Church." Yet, 
in the midst of their triumph, the church prevails, while 
the persecuting power, the great Roman Empire, is 
brought to nought. Again, the Arian heresy threatens to 
swallow up the church ; or the beast on the seven hills 
makes war on the saints, and seems to overcome them ; 
or the unnumbered hosts of the Saracens spread like lo- 
custs over the Christian world, and seem for a time com- 
missioned to annihilate it ; or Protestantism is assailed by 
an Invincible Armada ; or likely to be blown up by the 
Gunpowder Plot in a Protestant Parliament. Yet all these 
mad endeavors avail nothing. God signally appeared for 
the deliverance of his people, and turned the machinations 
of the wicked against themselves. 

And so it has been in every age of the Church. She 
has outrode every storm, though shaken by the thunder- 
bolt and scathed by the lightning. No confederation has 
been half so much assailed or opposed with half so much 
power and virulence ; none has stood so firm, none with- 
stood so long. And, as it has been, so it shall be. 
" Judgment shall return unto righteousness" — the seeming 
darkness and disorders of Providence shall issue in the 
furtherance of the cause of righteousness — the progress 
of truth. All shall be so overruled that the right and the 
good shall triumph. The righteous shall see it and be 
glad. The arm of Omnipotence is engaged to carry for- 
ward his cause — to make every one feel that if he be on 
the side with God, on the side of truth and righteousness, 
he is safe. The stars in their courses may fight against 
him — all may appear dark, and confused, and adverse — 
the tempests may beat, the floods come, yet his founda- 
tion standeth sure. It is the rock. His house will not 
fall. All his earthly interests may fail, the earth be burned 



THE GREAT CRISIS. 397 

up, the elements be dissolved, yet the man who has God 
for his portion can suffer no loss. His treasure lies too 
high — his home beyond these temporary turmoils of time 
— his interests are all in the safe keeping of One who 
never allows a single purpose of his to fail. 

But on the other hand, how different is the condition 
of the ungodly man ? He may seem to prosper for a 
while ; but his prosperity is as the " baseless fabric of a 
dream." It has no foundation. Be it riches, honors, 
pleasures, any thing in which God and eternity do not 
enter, it will change with the changes of time. It hath 
no permanence. 

5. Again, we are led to conclude that all human affairs, 
and the great work of redemption, are approaching a 
crisis. The lines of Providence seem fast converging to 
some great point of consummation. Great events thicken 
upon us. Events which were wont to occupy centuries, 
are now crowded into less decades of years. The wheels 
of Providence run swift and high, far outstripping in their 
magnificent consummations any thing that a few years ago 
imagination could conceive or faith realize. We now 7 see 
the whole world in motion, animated by a common soul ; 
and that soul is Providence. All is gloriously moving 
forward to a destined point ; and that point the next great 
step of advancement in the sublime economy of grace. 
There is commotion among the hosts of Rome. The 
waters of the mystic Euphrates are glimmering for the 
last time in the rays of the setting sun. The Pagan world 
is shaken to its very centre — its temples crumbling, its 
idols falling, its darkness dissipating, and, as never before, 
it is prepared to receive the gospel. And the spirit of life 
is passing over the face of the stagnant Christianity of 
the East, and preparing those lapsed and corrupt churches 
once more to arise and let their light shine. And there 
is discovered, too, a shaking among the dry bones of Israel, 
a spirit of renovation and life, betokening the long night 
of their dispersion and affliction to be nearly passed, and 
the day of their redemption at hand. 

In correspondence, too, with all this, there is a move- 
ment in the sacramental host, and a counter move- 
ment in the camp of the enemy, both heralding the 

34 



398 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

approach of the same crisis. This heaving of the lungs 
of a new spiritual life in the Church — this recent 
movement of the moral muscles of the body of Christ, 
has given birth to a delightful progeny of benev- 
olent associations, brought into being just in time to 
meet the demand created by the movements of Provi- 
dence in opening the field. The Church has at length 
roused from her deep sleep of apathy over the Pagan 
world, and is extending the arms of her compassion to the 
ends of the earth, and reaching the bread of life to wait- 
ing millions. While, on the other hand, the enemies of 
the truth are on the alert, ready to contest with the saints 
the last inch of ground. The adherents of infidelity, error 
and Anti-christ, are gathering up their strength, com- 
bining their forces, and preparing to come up to the last 
great battle. " Satan is driven from one strong hold to 
another and foiled at every turn. Expedients are failing 
him. He stirs up war, and it becomes the occasion of 
spreading the kingdom of peace. He excites persecution, 
but instead of exterminating the saints of God, it brings 
about full liberty of conscience, and favors the organiza- 
tion of independent Christian churches. He panders to 
superstitions, by devices so successful in the dark ages, 
but only provokes another reformation in the land of 
Luther. His old arts will not serve him now." All 
things betoken the approach of another great crisis in the 
work of human redemption. 

6. Another conclusion, therefore, to which we are 
brought, is, that although the world is soon to be given to 
Christ, yet there shall come a dark day first. The enemy 
has usurped the dominion of this world. He is the god 
of this world ; the prince of the power of the air. 
Though overcome, he is not yet dispossessed of his 
usurped inheritance. The strong man armed is still 
spoiling the goods. Often he is made to feel the weight 
of a stronger arm, and, like a chafed lion, is roused in his 
wrath. Truth is mighty. He fears its invading footsteps 
as he sees its irresistible progress. Yet he will not yield 
the possession of six thousand years without a last des- 
perate conflict. Nothing so soon brings on this conflict 
as the progress of truth. It is but the legitimate effect of 



THE WORK OF THE AGE. 399 

the diffusion of the gospel. And as the probability in- 
creases, that Christianity shall fill the whole earth, that 
all shall be brought into subjection to Christ, all learning, 
wealth, earthly power, manners, maxims, habits, human 
governments, and whatever belongs to man — the rage of 
the enemy becomes more and more rampant ; and as he 
sees his territory diminishing, and his last foothold threat- 
ened, he will make his last grand rally, and never yield 
while there remains a forlorn hope. The friends and the 
enemies of the truth are no doubt fast bringing things to 
a grand and dreadful issue, which shall for a little time 
cover Zion with a cloud, but which shall soon bring her 
out fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an 
army with banners. 

7. The missionary work is the great work of the age. 
It is the work to which God by his providence is espe- 
cially calling his church at the present day. Our age is 
not characterized by wars and rumors of wars, nor even 
by great political revolutions. In nothing is it so re- 
markable as for increased facilities for the spread of the 
gospel, and the actual diffusion of civilization and Chris- 
tianity by means of Christian missions. Few are fully 
aware what has been the progress of evangelization since 
the world was hushed into peace on the plains of Water- 
loo. But a single generation has passed, yet the moral 
changes which the world has undergone during this short 
period, are truly astonishing. The historian who shall 
write the history of this period, will needs fix on the work 
of evangelizing the heathen, as the great work of the age. 
Infidelity and fanaticism concede this, when they so 
carefully hold up the amelioration of the condition of 
man and the conversion of the world, as the Ultima 
Thule of all their systems, and of all their wild or wicked 
devices. No one would now think to hazard a new 
scheme, which should not hold up the spread of civiliza- 
tion, knowledge, and Christianity, as the consummation 
to be reached. 

8. The present is the harvest age of the world. A busy 
and all-controlling Providence has been preparing the 
ground for centuries past, and sowing the seed, and 
watering it with the heavenly dew r , and warming it with 



400 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

the rays of the Sun of Righteousness. He has, too, been 
preparing laborers for such a harvest, and now he is 
gathering in the sheaves. Indeed, for the last thousand 
years, all things have been preparing for this very age. 
Midnight darkness then covered the earth. That was 
the crisis of spiritual night. From that gloomy epoch 
causes have been at work; revolutions taking place; in- 
struments, resources, facilities accumulating, which have 
all been employed to bring about just such a day as the 
present. The lines of Providence seem converging here. 
The labors of Wicklif, Huss, and Jerome, the ever-glorious 
Reformation of the sixteenth century, prepared agencies, 
established principles, recovered, from the rubbish of a cor- 
rupt church, doctrines, and restored to the church vitality 
and spiritual vigor, all of which seem to have been look- 
ing forward to the present age. The revolutions and 
activities, and the great and good men of the seventeenth 
century, were especially contributing to this same end. 
Baxter, Bunyan, Doddridge, Flavel, and the hosts of 
giants of those days, were laboring for our times. Great 
and good men are always as the tree of life which bare 
twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every 
month, whose leaves were for the healing of the nations ; 
yet those men seemed more especially to have been 
raised up for our age. Never more than now, perhaps, 
were the writings of those men fulfilling their divine 
commission. 

And, in like manner, the wars and political movements of 
the eighteenth century, with all its intellectual and moral 
advances, were contributing to the same consummation. 
The American Revolution ; the conquests of the English 
in the East ; and the career of Napoleon Bonaparte, 
were all far-reaching events, and immensely influential 
in bringing in the present harvest season of the church. 
By these means modern liberty found habitation and 
rest ; the territories of Paganism were thrown open to 
the benevolent action of the church ; and many a for- 
midable obstacle was broken down by that hammer of 
Providence, the hero of Corsica. Before him quailed the 
despotisms of Europe ; Rome shook on her seven hills, 
and the internal weakness of the Turkish empire was re- 



CONCLUSION. 401 

vealed, and from that time Mohammedanism began to 
decline. 

9. Finally, if such be the indications on the part of 
Providence, such the facilities and resources secured for 
evangelizing the world, and such the preparedness of the 
world to receive the gospel, what is the duty of the 
church, what the duty of every individual Christian at 
such a time, and under such circumstances ? 

This was announced as the third general topic of the 
present treatise. But our volume has already swollen to 
its prescribed dimensions. We may not, therefore, enter 
upon any discussion of this topic, but we leave it with 
the pious mind to infer his duty in the solemn and inter- 
esting circumstances in which, at the present moment, 
he finds himself providentially placed. 

We possess advantages which neither the apostolic 
age, nor any subsequent age ever yet enjoyed. Such 
improvements, inventions, discoveries, facilities of com- 
munication and intercourse with all parts of the world, 
have been the heritage of no preceding age. The Print- 
ing Press, the Mariner's Compass, modern improvements 
in Navigation, and Magnetic Telegraphs, were equally 
unknown in the early ages of Christianity. Different 
portions of the world were estranged, one portion not 
even knowing of the existence of the other. Commerce 
was* restricted to a small portion of the earth's population, 
and education was confined to a few individuals of a few 
nations. Science had scarcely been made to favor 
Christianity at all, and governmental power was generally 
opposed to it. Liberty, the only political atmosphere in 
which Christianity can nourish, scarcely existed, even in 
name. The literature of the world, too, and its philoso- 
phy, were opposed to the progress of Christianity. 

But in the revolutions of Providence, how different it 
is now! What immense advantages does Christianity 
now enjoy for its universal propagation and establishment 
over the whole earth. The mighty power of God is 
everywhere at work, accomplishing the one great end 
for which the earth was made. All things are being 
brought into subserviency to this one purpose. God has 
risen up, and by the strong arm of his providence, is pre- 

34* 



402 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. 

paring to give the kingdoms of this world to his Son. 
The church has never before been brought into a position 
so favorable for the conquest of the world. 

What, then, is the duty of the church? and of the 
individual Christian ? She should work when and where 
God works. She should follow the leadings of Provi- 
dence ; take possession of every inch of territory open 
for her occupancy ; send a missionary, plant a mission, 
wherever she may ; erect a school wherever pupils may 
be found, and give the Bible and the religious book where- 
ever she may meet the reader. The harvest of the world 
is at hand ; the fields are ripe ; every disciple of Jesus 
Christ is a reaper. Each has his own sphere, and befit- 
ting capacities, and opportunities for using his capacities. 
He must, therefore, serve his Divine Master in his own 
sphere ; which, if he do with fidelity, his reward is as 
sure, and he may feel as delightful a confidence that he 
is performing a useful and important work, as the man 
who may be laboring in a very different sphere. Causes 
may be at work, or instruments be preparing, in some 
obscure corner, which we may help mature ; and which, 
when matured, become potent engines to build up truth 
or demolish error. Duties are ours ; events, God's. 

The work to be done is as varied as it is vast and im- 
portant. None can be idle for the want of an appropriate 
work ; none, whether high or low, rich or poor, can be 
idle innocently. God now, as never before, is calling 
every professed disciple of the Lord Jesus to stand in his 
lot ; to do his duty as, in providence, it now devolves 
upon him. The Great Captain is rallying his forces for 
the great battle. He expects every man to do his duty. 

Ride on, victorious King, conquering and to conquer, 
till the kingdoms of this world shall be thine, and thou 
shalt reign forever and ever. 



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